Kijutsu No Muyo
by Gamma Cavy
Summary: the chunin exams are coming up, the snake lords are on the move ,and secrets are reveled as a prophecy unfolds. Can the six wizarding shinobi survive? find out in kijutsu no muyo, the thrilling sequel to kijutsu no izou
1. Chapter 1

**A.N. This story is the sequel to Kijutsu no Izou. You will need to read that to get most of the context of this.**

**disclaimer: I own nothing**

* * *

Chapter One - The Nightmare Before Christmas

The silence of the night air was pure, crystalline and untouched. It seemed as if an ethereal woven blanket had been pulled snugly over the world, protecting it as a mother would her child. Although it seemed peaceful, it was anything but. In such a tranquil setting, an evil plague hovered on the air and like the viper, waiting for the moment the to strike out and devour its pray.

And lives were held in the balance.

All over the supernaturally sensitive parts of the world, those who remained awake felt its chill and those who slept were haunted by its nightmare visions. But there were few in the world that had felt such an omen before.

Far off in Hidden Ice Village, a trio of teens awoke simultaneous. The first was girl, awaking to the sensation of a thousand needles piercing her brain and the pain was so intense that here scream died in her throat as she blacked out. The second was a boy, awakening to a burning sensation in his stomach and the tormented screams of a voice that only he could hear. And the third was also boy, but this one didn't even possess have the voice in which to scream…

Half way across the continent, in Hidden Grass Village, another four teens experience the same horror. For the first three, they awoke with feelings of dread. But the fourth was a girl and her's was a dream so vivid and realistic that it had her crying out in her sleep, thrashing and screaming incoherent phrases. But one listened to her agony - for them; it had all too many times before…

And in Hidden Sand Village, three siblings lay awake, waiting for what ill awaited them in the days to come…

But there were more. Stone, Mist, Rain, Waterfall, Leaf and Cloud. They all felt it. And there were even those in Sound that felt it too. No one could figure out the meanings of the pain or feelings or dreams that they had endured. Were they warnings of some kind - messages from some unknown source that didn't want to see the world become a ruin.

So it was at that moment that Fate lurched onto its side, getting heavier as the balance of Good and Evil began to tip in favor of the darkness…

When Naruto awoke, it was to a full body paralysis. When the fact that he wasn't able to move set into his sleep addled mind, the blonde's heart began to race. Blood pumping, he focused every ounce of his willpower on opening his eyes. They moved slowly, as slowly as if he was moving through water. It was only after what felt like forever that he finally managed to get his eyes open, even if it only was a sliver.

The room around him was dark, but he could just make out the shape of two moving forms. He could barely hear their whispers as they moved about, but he could feel their sinister intent as though it tangible. Relying on his senses, he focused on the conversation.

"Well I've dealt with the sennin and the copy-nin. Those two won't wake up until long after we've gone. Have you got the two we're after?"

Dealt with Jiraiya and Kakashi? Impossible! Though the fact that there were intruders in their cabin meant that their 'guardians' had indeed been dealt with. But which two were they after and why were they after them in the first place?

"Of course" a second voice answered, and it was so familiar that it sent a shiver racing down his spine. "They were easy targets, no trouble at all thanks to my new skills. The only problem was that brat with the glasses woke up. But he was easily subdued, and even if it isn't a part of our mission, he will make another good capture…"

"Yes, I've heard rumors that he's immortal. Is it true?"

Naruto swallowed back a lump that had begun to form in his throat. He hadn't killed him had he?

"I have no idea Kisame, I didn't bother to see if it was true. Now stop talking and help with them - they're like dead weight"

Now he was frantic. The memories of his first encounter with these two came poring back and wasn't a time he like to remember. The last time had also involved Kakashi and Sasuke getting hurt. Simply knowing that Sasuke was within mere two feet of his older brother chilled his blood.

It seemed to take minutes for Kisame speak again.

"What about Sasuke?"

Itachi sighed, and it clear that his patience was getting thin. "Will you shut up? He hasn't even stirred let alone woken up. That alone surprises me since I would have imagined him to be the kind of person that would sleep with one eye open considering what I did to him"

"Have you gotten soft Itachi?"

"Bite your tongue dammit! I didn't slaughter my own clan for people to think of me as soft!"

Without another word, Naruto felt himself be jerked roughly from were he was lying.

"No, no, no. Don't even bother Kisame, it'll just be better if I take care of this as well"

The sound of the shark-man's grumbling followed as he was dropped painfully. The blonde wasn't sure what was about to happen, but when it did, ever nerve in his body began to scream.

"Mobilicorpus!"

That was wizard magic! How in the hell had Uchiha Itachi gotten a hold of wizard magic? But the thought was cut short as the sensation of lightness washed over him and body rose of the ground to hover in the air.

Now that he was upright, Naruto was able to see the full spectrum of the room.

Itachi was standing next to Kisame, his red Sharingan eyes glowing in the darkness as he idly twirled a wand in his hand before he repeated the spell. Ron, obviously still unconscious, rose up to hang next to him like a rag doll.

"Kijutsu has such convenient uses" Itachi smirked. "The Akatsuki has benefited greatly from the 'alliance' with the wizards. Thanks to this Voldemort, we'll have the Jinchuuriki, the Deathdealer and brat that's prophesied to kill bastard. You'd think that a wizard would be more cautious in trusting shinobi - the almost lost last war between the races"

Fearing the worst, Naruto pinched his eyes shut… and then…

"Who the hell are you?"

The blonde would have bitten his tongue in shock had it not been for the fact that he couldn't move. His eyes opened a sliver to see Sakura and Hermione standing in the doorway, their wands brandished and chakra ready.

He could practically hear Itachi groan - inwardly at least. From what he gathered, this was just supposed to be an easy abduction that had turned out to be more complicated. Through Naruto wasn't stupid enough to think that two twelve-year-old girls could pose much of a threat for two S rank missing-nin.

And it was Kisame who stepped forward. "We can do this the easy way or the hard - "

"Impedimente!"

Before he could blink, the swirling white light the spell shot out of the end of Hermione's wand, striking the shocked former Mist-nin. The force caused the man to be thrown backwards, landing with a thump across the room. If he could have laughed, Naruto would have at the look on Itachi's face saying that it was taking everything that the dark haired Uchiha had to keep from sweatdropping.

Feeling incredibly tired, he closed his eyes, certain that his friends would be able to save them. And they were determined to do it

"The hard way," Hermione replied with a snarl, glaring to where Kisame was struggling to get up.

But Itachi only smirked at them, more intrigued then anything.

"Good job little witch"

Hermione's mouth dropped open in shock. "H-how did you know that?" she gasped and then turned to the pink haired girl next to her. "I thought that shinobi didn't know about the wizarding world!"

Sakura winced, clearing looking like she wished she were somewhere else. "I guess some do…"

Itachi smirked again. "You're just as annoying as that wizard said. Too unpredictable…"

Sensing the chakra that he was focusing into his eyes, they realized in horror his they were Sharingan. They backed away, knowing now why this man looked so familiar - he was an Uchiha!

"Hermione, think of something!" Sakura practically shrieked as Kisame, angry from being 'beaten' by a girl, charged forward.

"I'm trying!" the bushy haired girl cried. "Maybe you should give it a try Sakura!"

She paled. "Must stop movement… must stop movement… what's that bloody spell?" seconds after ringing her hands, green eyes flashed in remembrance. "Petrificus Totalus!"

Seconds before Kisame reached them, Hermione had cast a second stunner and Sakura had cast the full body bind. The two spells crashed into the shark-faced man, sending him backwards so that he effectively smashed through the window and fell to the ground below with a crunch.

Itachi just laughed coldly at them. "Another good job, but it won't stop me. Bye girls"

And before they could do a thing, he vanished, taking their friends with him.

Standing in stunned silence, neither girl knew what to do. Sakura's mind was in a scramble, Inner Sakura frantically trying to get through to her.

'Think of Sasuke-kun!' her inner-self screamed. 'That was his brother! That was the man who he's sworn to kill. You have to wakeup Sasuke-kun!"

That helped to snap her out of it.

"Sasuke-kun - wakeup!" she shrieked, shaking him for all he was worth.

When they didn't wake up and no amount of shaking would do it, she knew she'd need to use some magic. Taking her wand in hand, she pointed it at him. "Enervate!"

The dark haired boy groaned softly. Onyx eyes blinked slowly open and stared up at her. In that moment, he couldn't look more tired and bewildered.

"Sakura? That the hell…"

"We don't have time," she snapped. "Naruto, Ron and Harry have been abducted"

"What?"

She didn't bother to answer him but rather moved away to whisper fervently to Hermione. It was also in that moment that she let Inner Sakura take control. Sasuke felt his heartbeat become frantic for a moment before something seemed to click. Hermione was glaring at him, her hard brown gaze burning into him.

"I clearly remember being told that you were the only survivor of your clan's massacre. So tell me Sasuke - if that's so, then why is there someone else with Sharingan?"

The girls watched as the dark haired boy paled considerably, his eyes darting back and forth between them. If it were at all possible, she could see into his soul that very moment. He looked angry, betrayed and frightened all at once.

"Itachi…"

Hermione panted as she ran as fast as she could in order to keep up with Sasuke and Sakura. Knowing that they had had to find their friends, the bushy haired girl had not hesitated in putting her all into it. Words past among the three of them were few, but what she did hear chilled her blood.

Sasuke had confessed that there was another living Uchiha - his elder bother Itachi. But that only made things worse when he confirmed that their attacker was indeed Itachi, the murderer of his entire clan. It was a terrible story and she couldn't help but feel the connection that there was with Harry.

They were survivors.

But another thing worried her and that was Sakura. The usually cowardly bubble gum haired kunoichi was acting highly out of the ordinary. Although she wasn't one to argue with her friend's newly adapted 'general of the army' attitude, it just didn't feel right. For Hermione, it felt like he was talking to someone else entirely.

"Okay, the footprints go this way" Sakura said, pointing her wand out at the snow-covered moors. "Judge by the spacing in their footprints, they're not traveling fast. Most likely because they have carry the cumbersome weight of three boys, even if a spell is being used to levitate them"

Even though it was still dark in the early morning, Hermione noticed as Sasuke's right eyebrow twitched. She could tell the other boy was becoming frustrated by his teammates strange behavior as well. Yet the dark haired boy refrained from speaking his mind.

Their trek took them ten more minutes at the rate they were traveling at to close the distance between themselves and those they were following.

"Hiretsukan!"

Their ears perked suddenly. That was Naruto's voice! As they crested the closest hill, they looked down at into the moor. What met their eyes nearly caused them to sweatdrop. Ron dangled limply (apparently knocked out from a blow to the head) in Kisame's grasp while Harry half consciously held his own head. But it was Naruto that caught their attention. The foxy blonde was lashing out against Itachi with claws and fangs (and even a thrio of newly sprouted tails!), all the while avoiding eye contact with the elder Uchiha.

Typical Naruto - no common sense.

It was a loosing fight.

Thinking quick, Hermione glanced over at Sasuke and Sakura. Without talking, they knew instantly what she was trying to convey to them. Nodding, the trio separated.

Sakura was the first to attack, her hands flying into the pattern on a bird seal "Suiton: Suiryuudan no Jutsu" a large water dragon flew threw the air towards their targets at the same time that Sasuke did his.

"Katon: Karyuu Endan no Jutsu" the younger Uchiha growled as he let loose his own fire dragon.

Hermione smirked. It was her turn now. "Doton: Doryuudan no Jutsu"

The earth dragon joined the other two in surrounding the two missing-nin before clashing in an explosion of power. Being at much higher levels then the trio, Kisame and Itachi immediately blocked the oncoming attacks. But that was just what Naruto needed to escape, hauling a stunned Harry and Ron's limp form with him.

"IT'S ABOUT TIME YOU GUYS GOT HERE!" Naruto shouted. "THESE CREEPS ARE PSYCHO!"

"You have no idea!" Sasuke shouted back, his eyes turning red as they locked onto Itachi.

The elder Uchiha smirked whimsically at him. "Do you think you can fight me foolish brother? Lets see you try it by yourself!" and just like that, he vanished in a burst of speed.

No matter of protest could stop the pale boy from following into what was obviously a trap. Left alone with three angry teens and one unconscious, Kisame looked them over, gauging their strength.

He snorted as he withdrew his sword. "If you really think can defeat me, you've got another thing coming"

And Sakura blatantly baited him. "Hey, I've done it already. I could beat you again"

Naruto's eyes bulged, and he turned to Hermione with a look of pure shock. Apparently what she had just done was something he'd normally do. The bushy haired girl could only shrug.

"Oh please. I doubt a weak little girl with nearly expended chakra could beat me" Kisame chuckled coldly. "Besides, that radioactive hair of yours has most likely given you brain damage. That wouldn't be much of a fight"

If glares were kunai, the Mist-nin would have been dead instantly. The look on Sakura was pure rage and she fuming so bad that the vain on her forehead began to throb. Feeling the killing intent pouring off of her, everyone began to back away. The features on the pink haired girl's face seemed to shift rapidly

Grinning viciously, Sakura held up her hands and began to form a series of complex seals.

"Naimenteki Tsuin Shakuhou!"

Before anyone could say a thing, a flash of light that nearly blinded them as Sakura appeared to spilt in half.

"HOW DARE YOU! I SHOULD KICK YOUR ASS FOR THAT REMARK!"

All those conscious that were standing around her eye's widened.

Standing next to Sakura was… Sakura. The real Sakura sunk to the ground, holding her head while the double, a menacing version of the girl who looked like she was on steroids and kanji tattooed to her forehead raged. And before anyone could blink, the freaky Sakura lunged at Kisame, grabbed him by the throat and despite her size, hauled him up into the air.

"NOW YOU LISTEN TO ME YOU EVIL BASTARD!" she shrieked. "IF YOU DARE INSULT MY LITTLE SISTER EVER AGAIN, NO ONE WILL BE ABLE TO IDENTIFY YOUR CORSPE! YOU GOT THAT BAKA?"

The blue skinned man was then thrown a good ten feet, landing on his ass with a painful thump. Meanwhile, Hermione, Naruto and Harry gapped in shock.

"Yatta! That was awesome! Who the hell are you?"

The warrior girl turned and her glare softened only a touch.

"I'm Inner Sakura"

Hermione shock her head. Now Sakura's strange behavour was starting to make some sense. "So," she grinned. "Want to kick some ass?"

Inner Sakura smiled wickily. "Would I ever!"

The two girls and Naruto turned their attention back on Kisame. Before the shark-like man could react, the trio transformed. The missing-nin's eyes widened as he watched them turn into abnormally large sable cat, a lithe pink hawk and a horse sized golden fox with nine tailes.

Behind them Sakura smiled.

"Kick ass!"

The sound of a scream echoed behind him as he gave chase. Sasuke had not thought twice before leaving his friends to fend for themselves, but from the sounds of things, they could take care of themselves. Lost in his dizzing rage, Sasuke chased after Itachi, his crimson eyes hard as he stared at the back of the one man he wanted to kill. Emotions of all sorts conflicted within him. It had be half a year since he had last seen his older brother - the last time that Itachi had tried to abduct Naruto.

Every memory he had of Itachi was still fresh in his mind. The torture he had endured at his hands…

"Stop running so I can kill you! Are you a coward?"

Itachi slowed to stop, suddenly whirling around to face him. Sasuke had to slam on the brakes or else go crashing into his brother's back.

"Don't you dare call me a coward," the elder Uchiha snarled menacingly, his eyes flashing dangerously. "If you only knew half what our clan put me through, then maybe you'd realize why things turned out the way they did. But you just can't see the fact that they got what they deserved"

It was taking ever fiber of Sasuke's being not to charge head on. Itachi was a killer - that had been established long ago. He couldn't be reckless or else he'd lose his chance for revenge once and for all.

"Deserved? No one deserves to be slaughtered like that…"

"You're wrong otouto. You were too young to understand"

"To understand what? That my brother was calculating murderous ticking time-bomb?"

Itachi glowered at him. "You don't think it hurt me too? If I'm really the coldhearted emotionless bastard you think I am, then why do think I let you live? Remember - there's always a fine line between good and evil"

"A fine line?" Sasuke nearly shouted, clenching his shacking fists and daring to take a step forward. "Don't give me that shit. Murder is murder - you took everything that ever mattered away from me. You made me an avenger, so I'm going to be the one that will make you pay"

Itachi stared at him hard.

"So you're saying that good always triumphs over evil?" the question was asked coldly, his red Sharingan eyes burning. Sasuke glared back darkly, ready for a fight, but nearly lost all concentration when his brother's eyes suddenly became black.

Not once had Sasuke anticipated Itachi deactivating his always-present Sharingan.

The elder Uchiha let out a hallow laugh and he walked right up to him and stared down into his own eyes. It was a laugh that sent shivers down Sasuke's spin not because it sounded evil, but that it reminded him of his own…

Itachi smirked icily back at him. "But what gives you the right to say that you are the good and I am the evil? Because I killed the clan? Because I tortured you? I don't think so. I only did what I was raised to do and therein lays the irony otouto. Our clan raised me to be powerful, lethal - a killer. In the end, they raised me to be their own demise. But am I sorry for what I did? I don't even think I understand the meaning of the word anymore"

"Then why did you let me live?"

"Simple - you were my precious person"


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two - Things Lost, Things Found

Naruto awoke with a yawn. It had been day days since, but his body still ached from that night. Although he didn't really want to get up, something inside him was telling his it was time.

"Presents!"

It was in that second that he remembered that was the day after Christmas and there were still presents to be opened. Bolting out of bed, the blonde fox-boy and headed out of the room for the kitchen.

"So you remember now do you?" a voice snickered lazily within his mind, most likely preening. "I'll never understand how you're able to get over such things as nearly being abducted for use as a tool. I didn't think you had the brain capacity for such a task"

The blonde frowned as he made his way down the stairs. 'I put up with don't I? Anyone could 'out fox' you, you sorry excuse for a chew toy'

"Hey! Take that back you brat!"

'Never!'

Kyuubi growled angrily, but he already knew that trying to fight back with Naruto was a mistake. The boy was just too dense.

"Fine…"

Naruto's mouth nearly dropped open as he sat bolt upright. 'Are you admitting defeat?'

"Don't get your hopes up. I'm only being nice since it's Christmas and you've gone through enough lately. Since I can't really give you a present, I'll tell you my name"

'But I already know it - it's Kyuubi'

"No you idiot, that's my rank. I am the Kyuubi because I have nine tails - making me the lord and leader of the Biju"

The blonde blanched.

'You mean there are more out there?'

"Of course you idiot, I thought you already knew that! You've already met the Ichibi no Shukaku. There are seven others and they are the Nibi no Nekomata, the Sanbi no Isonade, the Yonbi no Soukou, the Gobi no Houkou, the Rokubi no Raiju, the Shichibi no Kaku, and the Hachibi no Hachimata"

Naruto thought for a moment. 'Okay, so I know you're a fox and Shukaku is a Tanuki, but what are the others?'

"Sometimes I wonder about you kit" Kyuubi sighed, shaking its head. "Nekomata is a two-tailed cat; Isonade is a three-tailed shark; Soukou is a four-winged cockatrice; Houkou is a five-tailed wolf; Raiju is a six-tailed weasle; Kaku is a seven-tailed badger; and Hachimata is an eight-headed snake"

'That's it?'

"For the demon that remain of the human plain. During the ancient times when this world still belonged to the demons, the Biju had different leader - one superior to myself. It was the Juubi no Fushicho, the Ten-tailed Phoenix. But our holy demon left when the balance of the world shifted and sought the other realm in which the demons fled. As you can see, nine of the original ten Biju remained"

'Should I be happy?'

Kyuubi grunted. "Don't be sarcastic pest. As I was saying earlier, those were just our titles - names marking us for how many tails we wield. But our names are special. With our merging still incomplete, I might as well tell you now or have it lost forever…"

Intrigued, Naruto smiled. 'What is it then? I bet its something horrible!'

The fox snorted. "It's Kyouran"

'Fury?'

"Yep!"

'Gee… it suits you…'

"Why thank - hey, wait! Was that a insult?"

The blonde snickered.

'Maybe…'

"Brat"

'Brat (brat) n. Derogitory. a child, esspically an irritaing one. I live to make you life a hell old coddger'

Kyuubi growled. "Smartass"

'Damn strait!'

Right now, Sasuke was in his own dreamscape reliving so many things better left forgotten. Whilst his body recovered from the damage he had endured during his fight with a Itachi, his mind wandered. The memories of the previous night assaulted him mind, taunting him. He was an avenger - he'd always be an avenger! Nothing could change the way he felt.

"…what gives you the right to say that you are the good and I am the evil? Because I killed the clan? Because I tortured you? I don't think so. I only did what I was raised to do and therein lays the irony otouto. Our clan raised me to be powerful, lethal - a killer. In the end, they raised me to be their own demise. But am I sorry for what I did? I don't even think I understand the meaning of the word anymore"

Silent tears rolled down his cheeks, unnoticed while he slept.

"…you were my precious person"

But those words had cut his heart like a knife, inflicting more damage upon the boy then when he had ben tortured the first time. Everything that Itachi had said… he knew they were true. Although he didn't want to believe a single word it, he knew that the clan had had their part in causing what had happened. He remembered what he had seen through the eyes of a small child, what he had been too young to understand. He remembered the pain that his brother had so expertly hidden. Itachi had always been a master at that - suppressing his feelings until finally snapping…

"Well otouto, the choice of whither or not you kill me is up to you. I've told you the whole truth now, so be happy that I haven't left anything out. But think hard on that choice. I may have given up a lot of things by choosing mine, but don't be the fool I know you are and choose the wrong one for yourself. We all walk different paths, but there is always the choice as to where that path leads. I couldn't escape my fate, but maybe you can prove fate wrong by fighting yours"

And Itachi knew that Sasuke wouldn't fail in one day avenging their clan - he had purposly set it yp that way, and that was why he would always hate his brother for what happened. Although he didn't like to admit it out loud, he had only come to realize a few months ago that the path he had been taking was making him like his brother. He'd loose everything in his pursuit for the power to kill his brother. But there were always other options that could allow him to get his revenge. The wizarding world gave those to him. It was a comfort to the young Uchiha that there were fates worse then death. The tale of the Dementors from the wizard prison Azkaban sucking out the soul of the victim seemed very appealing…

"Remember brother, to be wronged is nothing unless you continue to remember it'

From that moment, Uchiha Sasuke was determined to move on.

"Sasuke, wake up…"

The dark haired boy groaned mentally at the sound. There was silence, and for a minute he thought he had been imagining things until the voice persisted.

"Dammit Sasuke-teme. Wake up!"

Yawning with exhaustion, the tired Uchiha cracked an eye open.

"What do you want dobe?"

Naruto grinned widely down at him.

"It's Christmas!"

Groaning, he rolled over with a muffled "Christmas was yesterday and it's three in the morning - go back to bed…"

But the blonde just yanked him out from under the warmth of his blankets.

"Hey! What was that for!" he complained as he stumbled after his teammate that was currently dragging his out of the room, thankfully no waking either Harry or Ron. "What are you doing baka?"

"You'll see" Naruto replied cryptically as he continued to drag Sasuke down the stares and into the tiny 'living room'.

The magical lights on the Christmas trees Hermione and Sakura had set up Christmas Eve sparkled brightly, spilling light over the still unwrapped presents beneath it. What shocked him the most was the sheer amount of presents under the tree (he hadn't paid my heed to it when Jiraiya and Kakashi had finally come to help them, and then patch up their wounds).

Upon the floor was opened parcel. Written on a piece of the torn wrapping paper was Naruto's name scrolled untidily in dark ink - Kakashi's handwriting. Finally the blond fox-boy let go of his arm and Sasuke was able was to sit down. Sitting down as well, Naruto lifted up what had been resting within the wrappings.

The dark haired boy couldn't help but be curious. "So what did the pervert get you?"

Naruto smiled widely at him.

"A family!"

"Hunh?"

Confused, Sasuke looked back down at book. It was a picture album. The blonde laughed lightly and opened it.

"I never thought I'd ever have something like this…"

Upon its first page was the picture of a young boy with large vibrant blue eyes, golden hair and a cheesy grin - a boy that looked remarkably like Naruto. Written underneath the picture was a name.

Namikaze Minato - age thirteen

On the second page there was picture of a beautiful smiling girl with tawny hair and sad amber eyes. Although she didn't look familiar, there was something about her that he couldn't quite put his finger on.

Uzumaki Kushina - age thirteen

That was when it struck him - these were Naruto's parents. Casting a shocked look at his blonde teammate, he got a foxy grin as the blonde proceeded to flip the pages. The next two pictures were ones to laugh at. The picture on the right was of Naruto's father and a much younger looking Jiraiya, but the picture on the left…

Four people were gathered in a team photo. The young Yondaime stood behind three children. The first was a smiling girl with plum colored hair, dark brown eyes and two dark purple tattoos on her cheeks. The second was a boy with thick black hair warning orange goggles, an annoying smirk and a toothpick poking out of the corner of his mouth. The third was another boy - a very familiar one at that - with aerodynamic silver hair, a scowl and a mask covering the lower half of his face.

Team Five

Namikaze Minato

Taizenko Rin

Uchiha Obito

Hatake Kakashi

"Kakashi-sensei sure hasn't changed much" Naruto remarked bluntly with a snicker.

"Well we were right then" Sasuke sighed.

"About what?"

"That he was never a kid"

Naruto burst out into silent pails laughter, and contained to turn the pages.

There were more pictures featuring many of the adults they knew as children and teenagers. Sasuke actually gapped when he spotted a few picture of his own parents within these forgotten memories. They all seemed so unsuspecting…

There were ever picture that Kakashi either taken or had taken for him of their team. There were the few team portraits in which the two boys were glaring at each other or failed expeditions in trying to see what was hidden under their sensei's mask. There was even one of those moving wizard photo's of their first 'real' day at Hogwarts - Naruto struggling with his tie while he scowled and Sakura batted her eyes at him sweetly…

Sasuke shivered.

But then he also saw the collection that Hermione had taken during these last two weeks. They ranged from the group of eight being lazy, fighting or sleeping. Some featured Jiraiya getting his ass kicked for various perverted reason and some where of Kakashi trying to avoid having his mask taken off for the camera. But his personal favorite would have had to been the one that Sakura took, featuring Ron running for life whist Hermione chased him with her sword.

And then finally, at the back of the book, there were ones that were older - as if they had been salvaged, protected through harsh times and had felt much love. One was the picture of a teenage boy with a Takigakure hitai-ate. The spiky tawny haired youth with dark amber eyes was sticking his tongue out at whoever was taking the photo while sporting a peace sign and puffing out his chest that had a chuunin vest covering it.

One the edge of the photo was faded delicate writing.

Uzumaki Makio - age fourteen

In memory of my beloved nii-san

I will miss forever the comfort of your smile…

"That was my uncle" Naruto whispered, a small smile on his face.

"I can tell," Sasuke chuckled sarcastically. "You both have the same stupid smile!"

"Hey! Take that back or sic I'll Kyuubi on you!"

"In you're dreams dobe"

"Bring it on bastard!"

"SHUT UP!"

The two boys nearly chocked on their own voices at the sound of Inner Sakura and Hermione's grumpy half asleep screams.

"Oops…"


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three - An Unexpected Haunting

- One Month Later, Konoha -

"Run nii-chan, run! She's going to kill you!"

And Ron Weasley heeded those words well. In his race to flee a certain bushy haired brunette; Konohamaru, Udon and Moegi had joined him. The three kids acted as his cheerleaders as he bolted through the busy streets of Konoha. The distance they managed before anyone realized what was happening muffled the sound of villagers shouting when they bumped into them.

Konohamaru was laughing so hard his face was turning red. "So what did you do this time nii-chan?"

"I succumb to temptation and she caught me in the act"

"And what was that?" Moegi asked, only a few feet behind him.

The red haired boy sighed. "I started to eat ramen again…"

Now it was Udon's turn to look puzzled.

"What wrong with ramen?"

"Nothing, but Hermione is dead set on believing that they stuff is evil - hell, she wouldn't even let me or Naruto eat any this past Christmas!"

The three younger kids gasped in horror, their faces looking as if the apocalypse had come. "You mean she's actually powerful enough to keep Naruto-niichan from eating ramen? No way!"

"Its true. Have you seen that sword of hers?"

"RONALD BILIOUS WEASLEY! YOU GET YOUR SORRY ASS BACK HERE!"

The four blanched and began to run faster.

"Don't worry nii-chan, we'll protect you!" Konohamaru declared, pushing Ron into the closest available ally and turning defiantly in Hermione's direction "Hey beaver face! I bet you couldn't catch me!"

Peeking out from the safety of his ally, Ron watch in awe as his three young friends led the raging girl away with a various insults ranging from her teeth to her hair. For someone who was and still was a stickler for the rules, she sure did break a lot of them these days.

Sighing, he turned and headed away from the market, sure that Konohamaru, Udon and Moegi would survive Hermione's wrath. The ally took his away from the central part of the village and off towards the monument. In all the months he had spend in Konoha, he hadn't come to this area very often. Well, not since it contained the graveyard.

'Going for some sightseeing?'

Ron groaned.

"Do you really have bug me right now?"

'Sure! There's not much else to do around here you know'

The redhead looked at the ghost. "So what do you want to do?"

'How about we visit the memorial'

"How about not!" Ron suddenly snapped, attracting the attention of a few passersby. "As much as I like the benefits of my blood limit, I'd rather not have anything to do that makes me feel like the bloody Grim Reaper!"

'Geeze, you're such a sissy…' the spirit snickered.

"I am not a bloody sissy you glob of ectoplasm!"

The familiar tingling laughter rung out around him, but it was soon joined by another.

Well you sure do act like it…

"Hunh?"

Ron whirled around just in time to catch sight of another glowing figure before it vanished. Startled by the appearance of a second ghost, the red haired boy gave chase, not bothering to pay any attention to his own spiritual companion as he did so. Every corner he took, he only managed to catch a glimpse of blinding white before it would vanish once again.

If you can catch me Lifebringer, then I'll tell you who I am. Till then, have fun - the chase is on!

The pursuit of the illusive second ghost took poor Ron all over the village. He ran into lots of people he knew doing the things that they did. Harry was being mauled by Ino; Kiba and Akumaru were once again driving Hermione crazy; Shikamaru gazed at the clouds while Choji ate; Shino was being quietly creepy as he walked with Hinata in search of their teammate; Lee and Gai were raving about the fires of youth while Neji coolly ignored a chattering Tenten.

The scenery change now and then as he passed in and out of the various districts. It was only after a half hour had past that Ron decided to call it quits. Now more chasing, just resting. And in just resting, he found that he had done a full circle and was now at the Memorial Stone.

The redhead cried softly to himself. This just want his day.

"You are one annoying ghost…" he muttered, walking over to the large black stone to gaze at all the names that had been carved upon it.

So many names.

As he gazed at them, he realized how much it was like that of the plaques at the ministry headquarters listing all the names of those who had fallen during the war against Voldemort over a decade ago. Compelled, he reached out a hand allowed it gently brush over the many names.

In doing so, little flashes filled his head, assaulting him was all sorts of sounds. Dimly he realized that these were the person who's final thoughts before they left the world. But they were visions for him and for him only…

:The pain… its all I can feel anymore. Punching, slashing - fighting not for my life, but for everyone I love. I can feel the Shinigami calling to me. Its time, but I won't go it alone - my enemy will join me…:

Ron jerked, unable to stop the flow.

:Run! The monster's coming! Get the wounded out of here now! I can barely fight anymore, but if my life means the life of thousands, then I give it willing:

:Keira? Please let Keira be okay… and the baby too. They're all I have in this world… and all I'll have to watch over once I'm gone. Please Kami-sama - protect them…:

:I failed you otou-san. I'm sorry I wasn't able to be the perfect son or the perfect heir you dreamed of:

:Remember me! Don't let my life have been in vain because you aren't able to be here for me now. I do… I do…:

He could feeling the inner pain that these people felt before they died or the inner peace they achieved. He laughed, he cried, and it all happened within a five second period.

:You're safe now - my friends are safe. I'll be fine and you'll live on because of me. Will you think of me as a hero and not the crybaby you always took me for? Be well my friends. Live…:

Choking, Ron fell backwards onto his rump, sniffling. For the next ten minutes the redheaded boy had to remain where he was sitting, ignoring the odd looks that others paying their respects were giving him, and regain his composure.

When he had finally dried his eyes, he felt something delicately soft alight his shoulder.

It is a sad thing, is it not?

Ron looked up in shock, his eyes turning back. It was the spirit he had be chasing. The sensation he had felt was a hand resting on his shoulder, an act as if you sooth the pain. It was also at that time that he noticed the differences between this ghost and his ghostly friend. First off, this one was shorter, brighter and seemed to have more of a softer voice. A child…

"You're back. I thought I was supposed to catch you?"

He felt a smile.

But you did. I was hiding in the stone - that last memory was mine:

Now Ron was confused. "Why?"

Because you are afraid of death. It is a good and a bad thing for someone with powers such as yours. It gives you the benevolent wisdom not to use it for your own personal gain, but it also impedes making the right decision in a tough situation. I've made those before

"How, how old are - were you?"

The ghost sighed.

Young. It happened during a war

"Then why haven't you moved on yet?"

Why does anyone really want to move on? I stay because I have friends and family to watch over. I'd like to think that they benefit from my presence - the closeness… But I don't know. Time moves so slowly when you're dead it laughed. At least I can't cry anymore… I think that would have done me in again!

Ron laughed too. "You're death was the last vision right?"

Yes…

"You seemed… I dunno, happy and sad at the same time"

The spirit nodded. Why wouldn't I be? I had saved my comrades, but I couldn't save myself. I guess those things just happen right?

He wasn't sure what it was, but he felt that he was in the company of a kindred spirit.

"So then, what's your name?"

Its -

"So Ron, how's your ghosty doing?"

He turned to find Kakashi approaching from behind, holding his little orange book in one hand.

"Good, the last time I talk to him - this one's new"

The silver haired jounin raised his eyebrow. "Your making it sound like these ghosts are puppies. Soon you're going to be turning your apartment into a homeless shelter"

Beside Ron, the spirit snickered.

That is such an unflattering look him. One visible eye and the same gravity defining hair. He looks more like a pirate then a ninja…

Unable to help himself, Ron burst out laughing, only causing said visible eye to glare at him.

"Okay, you have to tell me something. What is it with you and ghosts teaming up at my expense?"

Ooh touchy. Someone still has issues:

"Umm… Kakashi… I think it knows you…"

The ghost gasped, tying to bop Ron over the head with a glowing fist (only causing the boy to shudder) before hollering loudly It? It? I am not an it!

The voice, so loud that it was screeching, burst the sound barrier of the dead and echoed out into the human world. Kakashi paled considerably, his jaw behind his mask hanging.

"It - it c-can't b-be…"

And who said it can't? the spirit snorted. Sheesh Kaka-teme, if anyone has a thick head, its you. After all these years of trying to contact you, its now. You know, I even think Minato-sensei is kinda fed up with too…

"Ron, I suggest you use that jutsu now!"

The redhead gapped

"But I don't know if it's ready yet. I - "

"JUST USE IT!"

"Alright already!" Ron snapped back, pulling out his wand and focusing a blend of magic and chakra into it. "Fukyuu Hitokage - Hireki!"

The red haired boy suddenly gasped, one hand gripping painfully over his heart as he dropped to his knees. He kept channeling his chakra and magic into one even when he began to hyperventilate. Such was the risk of mixing chakra and magic…

Hey, hey - stop it! Don't hurt yourself!

A mini explosions finally ripped though the area, a washboard palette grays being focused on one spot. As human shape took form, Ron smiled proudly of his accomplishment as he began to breath again. The boy standing before him was see through and wispy on the edges like the familiar ghosts of Hogwarts. Familiar. This boy was the same one he had seen in a photo that Naruto had shown him a few days after Christmas. Dark hair, pale skin and a pair on silver framed goggles.

But it wasn't that whiched shocked the two onlookers. No, it was one eye, like black obsidien and the other eye, having perminatly sayed as the single Sharingan he had left.

"Obito"


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four - The Fate of the World

- One Month Later, Hogwarts -

It hadn't been all that long since the events of the Christmas holidays joined ranks with that of Halloween. It was hard trying to put all of those events behind them - especially for Sasuke - but things were slowly beginning to work out (that and Tsunade wasn't about to let the three of them sulk…)

So as fate would have it, the three genin of Konoha would find themselves seated at Gryffindor one morning in late January. For Naruto, he was in the middle of eating breakfast and complaining with Sakura about upcoming tests in the worst classes they had.

It seemed that in History of Magic, the ghost Professor Binns was planning on doing a recap of the Goblin Revolutions. Normally that class would have given the trio, like everyone else, the perfect opportunity to catch up on some much needed sleep, but this time with tests in Transfiguration, Potions, Charms and Defense Against the Dark Arts to worry about, they would need all that precious time to study.

Sasuke too wasn't pleased with his lot in it either. Professor McGonagall was less then pleased with his standard of work in her class after failing to turn a peach into a miniature pig. To add insult to injury, Naruto's had turned out perfect and Sakura's had been good enough (save for the fact that it was still the same color as the peach).But his? His peach had only grown its own pair of eyes - ones that glared daggers at him for not getting the spell right. He wasn't even allowed to use his Sharingan - which McGonagall had gotten wise to - and forbid him to use it unless he wanted to be failed for cheating!

If only it had been Charms class…

"It isn't fair" Sakura whined. "I don't like DADA. Lockhart-sensei always gives tests about those stupid books of his or what his favorite color is! I can't take it any more - even Inner Sakura hates him! She's been at me for weeks to let her out so she can kill him..."

"I agree with her - I'd like to kill him too. The man is an annoying fruitcake after all - what do you expect" Sasuke replied stoically, not looking up from the sausages he was currently eating.

Upon hearing that, Naruto started to chock on a piece of bacon. Sakura had to beat him over the back till he coughed it up, laughing his head off.

"Fruitcake! I never thought I'd have the honor of ever hearing you use that word!" he roared. "It was just about as good in the time you called McGonagall-obaachan an old hag!"

He could help but grin wider when the dark haired boy glared back at him. He was about to keep razing Sasuke when a large barn owl descended from above and dropped an envelope onto his plate.

"Who's it from?"

"Beats me. Maybe Harry's written us. Hermione said would try to give us any updates from back home. I personally hope that they've managed to figure out the rest of the prophecy…"

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Well if they don't, at least you have Sakura to help you figure it out. She's gotten far with it so far since you finally told us about it dobe. Now are you going to open that letter or what?"

Sticking his tongue out, Naruto picked up the folded piece of parchment and tore it open. Disappointingly it wasn't from Harry, but surprisingly it was from Professor Dumbledore. It was simple enough, instructions really.

Please come to my office at 9:00 am. I have already

alerted your professor that you three will be absent

from class. The password is 'Snickers'.

Do not be late.

- Albus Dumbledore

"What does Dumbledore-sama want with us?" Sakura asked, a confused look spreading across her face.

"Do you think Snape-sensei realized that it was the twins and I that left those Dungbombs in his cauldron last week and ratted on us?" Naruto asked sheepishly.

Sasuke frowned. "If it was that dobe, why would he also want Sakura and I as well?"

"I don't know. Witnesses to my demise?"

His teammates sweatdropped before finishing their breakfast and got up to leave. Bolting down the last of his too and grabbing a few more pieces of bacon for the road, Naruto jumped up from his seat and followed them out of the corridor.

Five minutes later, Naruto noted that Sakura was beginning to frown and Sasuke began muttering darkly about following fools. It finally become apparent that they had been walking around in the circles whole time when the portrait of a wizened old witch asked them if they were lost or if there were more children that looked liked them in the school. They just ignored the painting and tried to remember which way it was to the headmaster's office.

"Just my luck…"

"Oh stop complaining Sasuke-kun" Sakura growled.

"Yeah!" Naruto found himself smirking. "Who's worse? The fool or the fool who follows?"

"Why you!"

The blonde fox-boy dodged and tried to hide himself behind Sakura.

"It was Kyuubi's fault!"

"I don't care if it was that stupid furball's fault or not dobe," Sasuke snarled. "Those words came out of you're mouth!"

"Do you realize that you're acting like a girl with PMS?"

Naruto howled in pain as Sakura bopped him over the head.

"Enough you two. Do either of you know what time is now?"

Both boys dug for their respective watches at the same moment. Sasuke pulled his watch out first and read the time aloud, "8:50"

"That only gives us five minutes!" the pink haired girl suddenly shrieked. "The letter said not to be late!"

Sasuke glared "Well don't get pissed at me"

"Don't worry Sakura-chan!" Naruto grinned foxily at her. "We can always use some of Kakashi-sensei's excuses!"

Sakura moaned and held her head in her hands, repeating the mantra 'we're going to be late, we're going to be late…' over and over. Remembering suddenly the one thing that was never off his person, Naruto let out a whoop and dug the Marauder's Map out of his robes.

"Why didn't I think of this before!" he laughed and began to dig around for his wand.

Sasuke looked at the grubby piece of parchment in Naruto's hands and smirked. He remembered.

"Its an old piece of paper. How is that supposed to help us?" Sakura frowned.

"Quite, I'm busy!"

He finally found his wand; as well a few candy wrappers stuck to it, and pulled it out. Interested in what he was about to do, Sakura leaned closer to get a better look. Naruto smirked, touched the parchment with the tip of his wand and with his best commanding voice said, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good!"

The pink haired girl rolled her eyes.

"Nothing's happen - "

Sakura suddenly gasped and staggered back as the tip of Naruto's wand flashed and the parchment began to bleed with the ink that would reveal its secrets. The familiar heading of the map appeared and they just got a brief look at it before Naruto opened it up to its full length. The first floor was spread out before them and it was only seconds before they were able to find the corridor that they kept forgetting to take.

"Where did you get this?" she babbled, and Naruto was pleased to see that she was having a hard time hiding her awe.

"I'll tell you later" he grinned. "Right now we have a meeting to get to"

Folding the map and stuffing it back into his robes, the blonde led the way at run down the corridor and down the next that would lead them to the object of their search. Stopping before the stone gargoyle, Naruto smiled.

"Snickers"

Without hesitation the statue sprang aside to reveal a passageway only accessible from behind its stony back. Sighing with relief, the trio entered the passage, followed it till they found a stairway leading up and began to climb. It was exactly nine o'clock when they reached the door that would lead into the Headmaster's office.

Taking a deep breath, Sasuke was the one to reach forward and knocked on the door. When no reply came, the dark haired boy took the doorknob in his hand and turned.

Opening the door, however, was another thing. The room on the other side blazed with color and was still filled with an odd assortment of sleeping portraits, glowing trinkets and other accessories they had seen months ago. Perched on a golden stand was a magnificent bird that caused the three kids to gasp in amazement. It looked at them with its wide black eyes and let out a thrill that made them shiver because of its beauty. They hadn't seen it the first time they had been here.

"It seems you three have fallen in love with my phoenix. Fawkes has that effect on everyone"

Naruto gave a start and could feel Sasuke and Sakura next to him do the same. At the top of a stairway, Professor Dumbledore smiled down at them. The elderly man laughed at their startled and descended the stairs to come and sit down behind a large wooden desk.

"Please sit, we have a lot to discuss"

Still flabbergasted, the three young shinobi dropped into the closest chairs they could find.

"Well now" Dumbledore smiled again. "Care for a lemon drop?"

"Hunh?"

"Candy"

Sasuke and Sakura immediately shook their heads with a polite no at the same time that Naruto belted out a yes. As soon as the blonde was sedated with a few of the sticky candies, the Headmaster folded his hands upon the desk.

"Now I'm sure you three must be wonder why I've called you here"

They nodded.

"The reason," the elderly man continued, "Is due to a letter I myself received late last night. I have read it, agreed to the terms and have sent an affirmative reply back"

"What was the letter about?" Sasuke asked, trying not to sound suspicious. "Why are telling us no about decisions you've made without consulting us first and only telling us now?"

Dumbledore smiled widely then, his blue eyes twinkling madly.

"Time was of the essence child. I was sure that you wouldn't mind me sending reply to your Hokage stating that you three would be more then willing to travel home for the duration of the Chuunin Selection Exams"

"What!" Naruto blurted, jumping up so fast he knocked his seat over. "You mean you're actually going to let us go?"

"Yes. Why would withhold an important part of your learning just because it isn't with this school?"

"But what about Harry, Ron and Hermione?" Sakura asked. "What will they be doing?"

"They will also be partaking in the exams as well"

Excitement for Naruto suddenly died when he remembered his appearance. Hands shot up to grope his head, feeling out the furry fox ears that stuck out of his hair on either side of his head. Feline eyes then stared at clawed hands that came back down to dangle at his sides.

"I-I can't go back" he stuttered. "Once the villagers see me, they'll really try to kill me this time"

Dumbledore smiled softly. "Don't worry, I'm sure simple spell could hide those ears of yours... and maybe sunglasses or goggles could hide your eyes. Plus, the exams are not being held in Konoha this time"

"What? Then where?"

"I'm sure you've heard of Yukigakure"

Sakura gapped. "Yuki? But Hidden Snow Village rarely hosts the Chuunin Exams - they prefer the Jounin Exams. What could have made them change their minds?"

Dumbledore shook his head.

"Alas, I am not an expert on shinobi governments. Such decisions are made without proper understanding. I hope for everyone's sake that nothing bad will become of it"

There was a silence before Sasuke finally found his voice in which to speak. "What about Orochimaru?"

His two teammates and Dumbledore turned to look at him.

"From the information compiled, spies all over the globe confirm that something is indeed coming. The power of the Snake Sennin and that of Voldemort are not something to take lightly - as you three have already come to understand. Since it's not certain as to whether either of them will attack, I shall send Fawkes with you for protection"

Having given his teammates the chance in the past few months, they had actually become good friends albeit they still had their differences. Goals in life had changed. With what he was learning in the wizarding world, the revenge he wanted against his brother could be gained without killing him...

Dumbledore nodded knowingly. "I also see that you've come to understand the reasons why Sarutobi and I decided to send you here. We hoped that havens could be provided for you both. It seems that you six have a fate that will decide everything. I also know about your prophecy and I'm most willing to give you the last of it. It turns everything on its side. Tell me, from your experiances, have you figured out who they are yet"

"You mean…" Sakura gasped. "They're the Dying Ones?"

"Very good. Voldemort and Orochimaru are opposites, one wizard and one shinobi, both with power not easily countered" he paused a moment before turning to Naruto. "They are the Dying Ones of prophecy. When one is seeking immortality, they are always dying. As for those who are Precious, you will find that they happen to yourselves and those you love. Sincethe threat of darknessthreatens them, only with the help of your wizard counterparts can you stop it"

There was a pregnant pause as Dumbledore allowed what he had just said sink in.

"Now I know it is a lot to lay down on you, but it is something I must do. You'll need to participate in the Chuunin Exams in order to build your strength, and should you meet your enemies there at the end of the road, hopefully you'll be able to together work through the darkness to come"

"What about our studies?"

Sasuke had a valid point. How could they travel to Snow Country for the Chuunin Exams, which could take up to two months, while they learning their wizard magic.

Dumbledore chuckled.

"A simple Seishin Bunshin should cover that"

"But that's one of the forbidden clone jutsus!"

"So?" Naruto laughed. "Did that stop me from learning the Kage Bunshin? No. I think it would be kinda fun to have another one me to learn everything!"

The Uchiha paled. "Another you? Heaven forbid"

When the six left the office - two hours and a three clones later - it was only so that the clones could head for their classes and for Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura to pack up some clothes and be ready to leave the school by Floo Powder at noon.

"Its always us isn't it" Naruto finally sighed as they headed down the hall, sounding extremely forlorn, his clone nodding sympathetically. "No matter what we do, nothing ever seems to work out right. Really, it's a curse"

"You think?" Sasuke's clone replied dryly whist the real Sasuke rolled his eyes. "The thought of you having the fate of the world in your hands makes me fear for my life"

The 'twin' blondes growled dangerously as their gazes tried to burn holes in the 'twin' brunettes next to them, before the Naruto's clone snapped back with a "Shut up you bastard. You're in the same boat as I am"

Sakura and her clone just shook their heads with disgust, their Inner Sakura's doing the same.

"Well with you two as heroes, the world really is doomed"


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five - The Horror of Troublesome Reunions

"Do you think it safe?"

That was what Sakura had to ask, paling as she looked at the fire and at the Floo Powder in her hand.

Next to her, Naruto, with Fawkes perched on his shoulder, shrugged. "Beats me" and then looked over at Sasuke who shrugged as well. "I guess there's only one was to find out"

The blonde stepped bravely up and into the fireplace, threw down his powder and shouted. "Hokage Tower, Konohagakure no Sato"

Green flames consumed the boy and bird standing in the fireplace, causing them to vanish. The two remaining genin looked at each other, still uncertain they wanted to risk their lives. But Sasuke and Sakura were not the kind of people that would let Naruto show them up and they also wanted to get home for the exams, so they followed one after the other.

The experience itself was enough to make all three of them change their minds instantly. For Naruto, he felt like being continually spun about like a child's top, his mind too dizzy to comprehend a coherent thought; for Sasuke, it was rather painful since his shins kept smashing hard against every grate he past, so hard he figured they might brake; and for Sakura, it was worse then when she had rode bareback on ninetails fox at Halloween.

And being spit out of the fireplace at the end of their journey was another thing all together. They were dumped unceremoniously in a heap, coughing and chocking on the soot that had come with them. If he wasn't feeling so sick, Sasuke might had made a point that Sakura looked like street trash - but then he'd be looking that way too. He looked at Naruto instead.

"Damn that ero-sennin," the blonde whimpered, clapping a hand over his mouth to keep from hurling up his breakfast. "He didn't say it was going to be anything like that. I'm going to kill him the next time I see him!"

Unfortunately Sakura wasn't as lucky and nearly repeated the aftershock experience that she had suffered three months ago. And against the obvious pain in his bruised and bloody knees, Sasuke had managed to get out of her way just in time as not to be splattered. In the end, it was only thanks to Fawkes' magic phoenix tears that healed their wounds.

"Where are we?"

Looking around the empty room, it appeared to be one of the conference rooms inside Hokage Tower. They stood and dusted off their cloths.

"I thought they were suppose to be meeting - " the pink haired kunoichi began. Her words were suddenly cut off by a shrill yell.

"Will you four shut up?"

That yell just happened to be Hermione's voice.

"I can't take anymore. For that last hour my poor ears have bled; suffering though Ron's arguments with Obito, then Eye Spy, and to top it all off, Kakashi's twisted version of a Hundred Bottles of Beer on the Wall!"

"Hey, calm down will you? And how about a little respect too - I am your sensei after all" a voice, which just happened to be Kakashi-sensei's

They turned at the sound of him crying out in pain.

"For Kami's sake Hermione. Not so hard!"

"You deserved it!"

"Since when?"

"Since you compared my to the bitchy chick in that perverted novel of yours!"

"Well I wasn't too far off…"

The sound of a punch echoed and another cry of pain met their ears.

"You should be lucky I see you a sister, or you'd be dead"

"Maybe, but I doubt that - your too much of a coward"

"I am not a coward!"

"Yes you are!"

Naruto had to bite his tongue to keep from laughing as he and his teammates crossed the room to peek through a door that was slightly ajar.

Looming over a seated Kakashi was Hermione, her frizzy hair a mess and her face as red as a tomato. The very sight of their jounin leader (no longer with his Sharingan eye covered!), grinning weakly, cowering under the wrath of a twelve-year-old girl was almost too hilarious for words. But then again, they knew never to mess with Hermione…

Sitting as far away from the pair as possible was Harry and Ron, not to mention a very familiar see-through boy. The trio watched in silence the two boys while Hermione continue to rant about all sorts of nonsense that had happened over the year. Listening, it was becoming hard not to keep letting their presence be known.

You should you lay off on the poor sap - you know, save some for later? the ghostly boy chuckled. But I can't say its not entertaining. I've never been so blessed as to see Kaka-teme get that many thumps in repeated sessions!

"I agree with Obito. We do need the man to take us to Yuki don't we? What do you think Ron?" Harry replied, also laughing.

The familiar voice of the redhead joined in the laughter. "I dunno. If she's beating on him, she's not beating on me" was his jovial remarked. "Plus, its great to witness the 'all powerful' quiver in fear of the female race. It also helps take his ego down a notch"

As they jabbered, Sasuke could only stared in shock. His brain was taking its time remembering that morning Naruto had showed him his photo album. The ghost that was laughing along with their friends was an Uchiha! And Kakashi-sensei's former teammate - the one he had gotten his Sharingan eye from! How was this possible? No shinobi ghosts had ever appeared to the human eye like the Hogwarts' ghosts.

Just think!the ghostly Uchiha crowed, a wicked grin spreading across his face. If Ron-kun can bring me back to life after he brings Mi - oops, almost let that one slip - then I'll be the one to traumatize the pervert!

Kakashi glared at the smiling spirit, but Hermione finally smiled. "Sounds inviting. I'll take you up on that offer!"

Any time fair lady!

Naruto could feel Sakura shaking next to him with suppressed laughter, the phoenix cooing its own little chuckle and Sasuke's cheek was beginning to twitch. And before it could be stopped, it was the normally stoic Uchiha who burst out laughing first. Like a domino effect the three genin pluse on magical bird crash into the door, throwing it open with a bang.

Through eyes blurred with tears of laughter, all three looked sheepishly up at Kakashi, Obito, Harry, Ron and Hermione with wide (albeit Sasuke's was a smirk) smiles.

"Honey, we're home!"

"MAKE THEM STOP!"

Sasuke smirked at the muffled sound of Harry's voice as he followed Ron and Obito towards the practically abandoned Uchiha district. It had been ten minutes since the others had split up. From what he knew, Hermione and Sakura had gone off with Fawkes for a bonding session of laughs while watching Harry get chased by the rabid fangirls; Naruto was meeting with the Sandaime for some sneaky reason that he wasn't about to tell anyone else; Kakashi-sensei had gone to meet up with Kurenai and Team Eight, who would also be participating in the exams; while Ron and Obito dragged him off to put the rest of the vengeful spirits of the Uchiha clan to rest

But at this moment, his mind was elsewhere. He was barely hearing any of what his ghostly relative was saying, preferring to rather not think of the task ahead.

"Sasuke, are you listening?"

"Hunh?" the dark haired boy finally snapped out of it, his eye swiveling to meet Obito's mismatched pair.

The ghost frowned. You weren't, were you: he shrugged, turning away. But I can understand. I might be a ghost, but I don't relish the thought of having to go home and put a lot vengeful souls to rest. You have no idea how depressing the old district has become since then. If you had eyes like Ron's, then you might be able to see how the negative spiritual energy has sucked the life out of the surrounding area - I'm actually surprised that you were able to put with it all:

Sasuke looked at the ground.

"Do you know how we'll be doing this?"

I'm not entirely sure. Ron has created a new jutsu that corresponds with his bloodline limit - one that can give shape to spirits. I'm testament to that. But we're not sure if it'll work on the clan

"Why not?"

There are different types of earthbound spirits. With a controlled mix of magic and chakra, my spiritual body was given substance. The reason I remained was for the sake of my teammates, to make sure that they were safe and that my sacrifice wouldn't be in vain. I made a choice not to move on, my mind has been completely intact for the last thirteen years

Obito paused, allowing Sasuke the time to absorb what he was saying.

But the clan has remained because they are fueled by misery, hate, guilt and the need for revenge. Their misery comes from the fact that this is their purgatory; their hate comes from having died in such a brutal way; their guilt comes from what they did and didn't do during their mortal lives; and their need for revenge comes from wanting retribution against Itachi. Since you are the last living Uchiha in Konoha, their souls have connected to you - thus allowing them to unwitting channel their excess hate to you. Have you ever wondered why you seemed so anti-social?

The dark haired boy looked confused. "But that's just because of my avenger status…"

Nopethe goggled Uchiha shock his head. If it hadn't been for their excess hate, you most likely would have turned out much like Naruto. You would have felt the pain, you would have known it was your duty one day to beat Itachi, but you would have known that there was more to life then making yourself miserable. Your dream is to revive the clan right? Well if I'm brought back to life, I can help

"Can't the clan be brought back too?"

'Afraid not. A spirit has to have good intentions to ever hope being resurrected and all our clan has is their hate. Plus, it would be rather taxing on poor Ron. His limited amount of resurrections is three - Minato-sensei and myself make two - :

"What? You mean the other ghost is Nar - "

Obito suddenly began slashing a finger across his throat, motioning for Sasuke to shut up. A head of them, Ron had stopped and looked back, puzzled by whatever the two Uchiha were talking about. The redhead shrugged before continuing.

The ghostly boy drifted over to whisper in Sasuke's ear. You've got to keep this a secret - from everyone! Minato-sensei wants his resurrection to be a surprise. It's supposed to be twelve years of missed birthday presents for Naruto - that's why he hasn't told Ron who he is. Do you promise?

Sasuke nodded. "I promise"

With his mind in two places at once, the dark haired pair looked ahead of them at the despairing Uchiha district before them. A cloud of perpetual darkness seemed to linger over it like a plague, marking it as the graveyard that it had become.

The boys looked at each other. This was going to take a lot of work.

While everyone else was off doing their own thing, Naruto found himself in the Sandaime's familiar office, reliving the memories of all those time he had been sent here in the past whenever he got into trouble. As things had turned out for the fox genin, he and friends had mostly spilt up on separate paths.

But not him. This was his moment to get some work done. So while he looked around the Hokage's office reminiscing and stealing glances at his father's portrait on the wall, Sarutobi couldn't help but smile.

"So Naruto, what is it that you'd like to ask me?" he inquired sagely.

The blonde blushed, scratched the back of his neck nervously.

"Well Ojii-san… I was hoping you'd allow me to change my name…"

Sarutobi's eyes widened, a little color leaving his face. "Change your name? Why?"

Naruto sighed.

"I've lived a lie long enough Hokage-sama" he replied, using the honorific for once. "I believe that I'm old enough to protect myself now - I think its time that I stop being someone else…" he looked down at his hands, twirling his fingers and not meeting the older man's gaze. "I want to be the person that my parents wanted me to be - I want to a Namikaze now"

Sandaime nodded. "Do you think that's wise? Even after his death, your father still has a lot of enemies. They might come seeking revenge"

The blonde bestowed the elderly man with his best cocksure grin. "BRING 'UM ON!"

Sarutobi sighed, shacking his head at the boy's unstoppable optimum. 'He was too much like Minato - and Kushina when I think about it…'

"Alright then. What name will you go by? You do have quite few of them"

Naruto quirked an eyebrow before brining a finger up to his lips in thought.

"Well I have three names - Kaji, Uzumaki and Naruto. I know that Kaji was my original name - even though I do have a friend at Hogwarts calling me that - but I think I'll just stick with Naruto. That's who I am. So will you let me be Namikaze Naruto? Will you let the whole village know the truth about my parentage? I think its time that all those hacks choke on their prejudice. They damn well need to know that for nearly the last thirteen years they have been tormenting the Yondaime's son. I'd like that - I'd get to rub the fact that I'm not unimportant clan-less bastard. I'm my parent's son and it about time I start being that son"

And the Sandaime smiled. "I think its time now too. You'll have your name officially change today and we'll announce your parentage to the village when you return from the exam? How does that sound?"

"Yatta! Sounds good to me!" Naruto cheered.

Hopping up from his seat, the blonde bowed quickly before bursting out of the room. Had he waited a moment longer, he might have felt an unearthly chuckle, one that was filled with so much pride that it couldn't be tamed.

'Be careful my son. We shall meet again soon…'

After being chased around Konoha for the past two hours, Harry found himself gasping for breath after having exerted himself escaping the rabid masses. The exhausted wizard slowed to a jog, allowing his poor heart time to calm without going cardiac arrest. With all the rigorous exercise he was getting, it was a wonder why Lee and Gai didn't try to 'abduct' him for their team.

Whistles, cheers and cat calls suddenly caught his attention, causing the raven haired bespectacled boy to look up. Ten feet away, sat his fan club, each one holding a scoreboard above they're head.

10!

10!

10!

10!

It was embarrassing!

"Yo lover-boy! Time to get packing!" Ron yelled, slipping past the girls. "Kakashi says we gotta be out of at sunrise"

Cries and protests echoed from the crowds as the girls didn't want to see 'their' Harry-kun gone. But no amount of complaining was going to change things and as such, the swarm began to disperse. It ended with a few slowpokes blowing kisses at their dreamboat, Harry shuddering instinctively the moment they 'touched'.

As soon as all the girls were gone, Sasuke stepped out of the shadows grim faced. Obito followed soon after, the youthful spirit rolling his eyes behind his tinted goggles.

"I'm ever so glad you took it upon yourself to spare me the torment" the increasingly less stoic boy mocked, a smirk slowly forming on his face.

Harry blew a raspberry at him. "So what. At least I'm man enough to face them and survive. But enough of that, were you able to put your clan to rest?"

The Uchiha grimaced, turning so that only have of his face could be seen.

"It wasn't a pretty. I never again want to face the disembodied spirit of my parents again. They - they weren't the people I remember. Whatever they experienced, their souls had become mere shadows of their former selves. I loath to think that the same nearly happened to myself, only I was alive…"

The three boys and one ghost were silent for a moment, at which time Naruto showed up on the scene, yammering excitedly that he had in clan name restored. But even that didn't last long before Hermione, Sakura and Inner Sakura showed up, each with an exquisitely sinful grin. It wasn't until they said they the 'Word of Doom', they cringed in horror and realized just how unluky they all were.

"SHOPPING!"


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six - An Artic Forecast

The pre-light of dawn had only begun to lighten the darkness in the skies when the grumbling began. It started a few simple muttered complaints to a full out rant-fest with barking commentary. It wasn't that the early morning air was chilly or that he was currently suffering from a case of fleas, no not at all.

Life for one Inuzuka Kiba just sucked…

"Kurenai-sensei, is this really required?"

The red-eyed jounin cast a glance at her mangy pupil, an eyebrow rising ever so slightly. "Yes Kiba" she stressed the yes painfully, messaging her temples.

Even though he knew he shouldn't be complaining, after all, he was getting another chance to tackle the Chuunin Exams, but for some reason Kiba couldn't help but gripe. It was the package that went along with them that was the problem and it wasn't something he was looking forward too. Kami must really hate him now because to have he was cursed to have Teams Seven and Seven ½, Team Eight's traveling companions to Yukigakure, the Hidden Village of Snow, as company.

Hinata turned to him, balancing her pack. "A - ano. What's wrong w-with our companions Kiba?"

Akumaru barked in agreement while she blushed, and the dog-genin knew it was because she was excited at the thought of getting to travel with Naruto.

Sure, he might be a friend with Ron and Harry, but everyone else sucked. He had a self-death warrant when it came to Hermione; Sakura was a fangirly ditz; Naruto had beaten him and Akumaru during the last exams; and Sasuke was a prick. Not to mention their senseis (since only one person could represent a team) - the silver haired pervert Kakashi and a ghost named Obito - cramped his style.

He grumbled. "Nothing. I only wish that one of the other teams could have come…"

"Gai-san's team is on a mission in Tea Country - they won't be finished for another three and a half weeks" Shino stated bluntly, not bothering to slow in pace as their team made for the village gates. "My kikkai also overheard Ino ranting about Asuma-san wanting to work on developing they're skills for the next exams. Lastly, none of the new genin teams are ready yet"

That only made things worse.

"I didn't know that!"

"You asked"

"No I didn't! I only said I wished one of the other teams could come"

"Kiba?"

He looked up at Kurenai. "What?"

"Shut up"

Meanwhile, Haruno Sakura yawned. As a precaution, she and her friends had arrived to wait at the gates early to be safe. Having expert knowledge of Hatake Kakashi's chronic tardiness (although with Obito around, things had begun to change), it was always best to come on time just incase he decided that, for a first, show up on time.

While doing so, the pink haired kunoichi held a mental conversation with Inner Sakura about the new clothes they had bought yesterday. The boys gave them more trouble then they were worth. Screaming, crying, kicking, biting - you name it.

"I have to hand it to her - Hermione's plan was ingenious!"

"Yeah…"

Smiling, the pair began to reminisce…

-.O.-

The Haruno Twins Omake Flashback!

Their terrified screams echoed down the streets of Konoha, causing roosted birds to take flight.

"HELL NO!"

No matter how hard they tried, not one of them escaped. Hermione, quick on her feet, caught an exhausted Harry and bug-eyed Ron by their ears; Sakura had forcefully snatched Naruto by the collar of his shirt; and Inner Sakura had full body tackled Sasuke in in mid run, restraining him in with a headlock. They were soon being dragged off, Obito laughing and waving goodbyes to their poor victims.

Such a cruel fate was sealed.

Ten minutes later, Hermione chattered happily with two pink haired girls, their four 'slaves' + half a dozen of Naruto's shadow clones followed with their arms loaded down with bags as they entered the fifteenth store.

"'Mione! Sakura! Please stop!' Ron sobbed, trudging along behind, tears in his eyes.

Yet his pleas fell on deaf ears. The three girls laughed heartily, admiring their new cloths. Sakura and Inner Sakura now sported a pair of formfitting dark red pants with padded knees, a white sleeveless top and their hitai-ate on their foreheads. Beside them, Hermione's new wardrobe contained the same Capri pants with leg wrappings, a pale blue elbow length tunic with a denim vest. In their own option, they looked spectacular.

But now it was the boy's turn for a wardrobe change, and that was what they really feared.

"OWE, OWE, OWE!"

For his disobedience, Ron had been subjected the torment first. When the redheaded wizard finally returned from the back room with seamstress, he had nice new look. He retained the same shorts, but ditched the tan coat for a loose fitting dark brown mesh shirt. At Hermione's insistence, he on the back of a light brown coat, a symbol that would become his family crest - a circle that was spilt three ways, each secretion representing mind, body and soul in the primary colors.

Sasuke had been forced to go next. When he returned, it was apparent that his outfit had changed a little, if you called wearing a weighted vest over a t-shirt that didn't have an open collar in which to show off his curse seal a real change. Other then that, he looked exactly the same - much to the Sakura twins' disappointment.

When it was Harry's turn, Hermione teased him, saying that Ino would be slobbering over him soon enough. As attached as he was to his overcoat, the green eyed wizard had change his red shorts to pants and fitted with the same shirt as Ron's, only his in light gray.

The biggest change in the group of six would be with Naruto.

"NO! NEVER!" the blonde cried, clawing at Inner Sakura as the warrior girl literately had to drag him into the back room and hold him still for the seamstress to check his size. For the next half hour, sounds of pain and torture met the ears of his four other companions - the females with smirks and the males… with looks of pity.

Once it was finally done, Inner Sakura once again had to drag out the fighting fox-boy. Thanks to having such picky 'friends' that objected with ever piece of solid orange clothing he went for, the blonde now sported an outfit much different from his original orange jumpsuit (which he still vowed to get even with Snape for having burnt it their first day at Hogwarts). He now wore baggy white shorts with ankle bandages and shin guards, a sleeveless orange weighted vest with a red spiral and with bandages up to his arms. To top of the look was a pair of black-framed goggles. But also adding to his image was that he had even allowed his hair to grow out, making him look more the splitting image of his father.

Hermione smiled. "Wow! No that's a much look on you Naruto - the less orange, the better!"

"But I like orange!"

-.O.-

It was only Hermione elbowing the pair in the ribs that got Sakura and Inner Sasuke to snap her out of their sinful reveries. The latter pink haired girl smiled sinisterly, hide behind them

"Ooh, it looks like Team Eight is here… and great Kami, Kakashi-sensei too! Quick, quick - let me meet them. I think I can give dog-boy the fright of his life!'

Sakura smiled too. As soon as Kiba and Akumaru were within range, they were pounced on. The boy and his dog let howls of horror while Hinata's pale eyes widened, Shino just stared, the corners of Kurenai's lips rise up into a smirk and for Kakashi and Obito to burst out laughing.

Performing a little victory dance, Inner Sakura slapped Sakura and Hermione high fives.

"HELL YA! I GOT THEM GOOD!"

Far away from the three soon-to-be-departing teams, the Rikkakage of Yukigakure sat cross-legged next to the fire in his warm office. Spread out in front of him was the list of genin teams that would be participating in the Chuunin Exams that his village would be hosting.

Yawning tiredly, he ran a hand through his tight mass of curly black hair, pale golden eyes flickering uneasily over the list. It made him nervous and at thirty-five years of age plus experience as a shinobi since he was seven, fright wasn't something he ordinarily felt.

As the tally stood, three would only be thirty three teams - three from Ame, four from Iwa, four from Kiri, three from Konoha, three from Kusa, five from Kumo, three from Suna, four from Taki, and four from here in Yuki. It wasn't a surprise to him that Oto hadn't sent anyone, rather deciding to remain low since their failed attack on Konoha during the prior Chuunin Exams last year and prepare for another attack.

99 genin hopefuls ready to prove their worth…

There was suddenly a tapping at the door. With a sigh, he looked up.

"Enter"

The door slowly opened, the mousy face of one of chuunin message delivers poking in, bowing as he entered a little farther.

"Yes Kori-san?"

"The Anbu scouting squads 3 and 4 report that three genin teams have entered Snow Country from Fire Country Rikkakage-sama" he replied. "They'll arrive in approximately three days"

Konoha…

The Rikkakage nodded. "Thank you. Please send for Fuyu Toushou to meet with me within the hour. That'll be all"

"Of course Rikkakage-sama!"

Once again alone, the Rikkakage turned his attention back to the list. Why of all genin did this lot have to contain the 'at risk' young shinobi? The three teams from Konoha would bring at least six of them. The last Uchiha - Orochimaru's target; the Hyuuga heir - former target of Kumogakure; the Jinchuuriki vessel of the Kyuubi no Kitsune; and if the rumors were true, three spell-casters from the Wizarding World.

The last three posed the most problem. Wizards and witches were still no highly thought of in the Shinobi Countries. Not after what happened centuries ago during the Wizard/Shinobi war. It was rare that any of their people, either race, traveled between the two nations - the most published being the escape of the three eldest heirs of the Kinezumi clan of Iwagakure.

He would need someone to watch over them. It wasn't hard to choose a genin team to do the job. Who better to do it then that of his own niece and her team?

Chuckling to himself, the Rikkakage smiled. This coming month was going to be interesting…

A scream echoed off the vast white mountains of Snow Country, bouncing up into the open sky like a scattering of birds. The source of the scream stuck out brilliantly against the bleached whiteness of the late artic winter. Red hair billowed in the icy winds that swept the plains and freckles stood out like a bad case of the chickenpox.

Today was not a good day for Ronald Weasley.

Ignoring the snickers that came from his friends, the redhead continued muttering under his breath about how much he hated winter. After two hours of hiking through this glarier wasteland, the young wizard had decided that this trip was going to become one of his most horrible memories. What made matters worse was that Kakashi had taken to tell everyone who didn't know, about they're mission to Suna last year. Only this time Ron wasn't being fried alive by the scorching sun or dying of thirst… or dying at all for that matter.

Yep… he was in another 'desert'.

"Oh come on Ron, its not that bad" Hermione chided, before burrowing deeper into her thermal robes.

He glared at her and glared at everyone else. Harry, Naruto, Sakura (minus Inner Sakura who had returned to Sakura's head) and Sasuke had decided to do the same thing as the brainy one, and wear their school robes to keep in warmth. But Ron? No. His robes had been incinerated back in September due to practice attempt at one of his now favorite jutsus gone badly. Right now he was stuck with having to wear lots of layers, and much to his chagrin, the horrid maroon sweater with a big yellow R that his mother had sent him for Christmas.

"Maybe for you it is, but I really - really, don't like this!"

"It's called adaptation Ron" Sasuke added nonchalantly. "Really, I'm surprised that a dobe like you has survived this long"

Letting out a furious, the redhead pounced. He caught the dark haired boy by the front of his robes, causing them tumbled to the ground with a soft thump. Ron growled at him

"Don't call me that you bastard! Just because you use Naruto as your whipping boy doesn't mean I'll let you do the same to me!"

Naruto's suddenly looked appalled. "Hey! I am not his whipping boy!"

"Then what do you call it?"

Kakashi sighed, looking over at Kurenai and Obito for help. The red eyed jounin and the ghost just frowned at him, holding up their hands in mock surrender, their expressions screaming 'they're your students - you deal with them'.

The whole confrontation, however, caused Kiba and Akumaru to get involved. The dog-genin thought it would be funny to launch an ice ball at Sasuke's face, only to miss target and hit Hermione in the side of the head. The sword-wielding witch, going against all morals, intellect and better instincts, then unleashed her one and only Hyuuton jutsu - the poor boy. Frozen to the bone, thus Kiba became for the most part, the focus of the day's most humiliating jokes (such as nicknames like 'Pooch-cicle').

.-

As the days progressed and the three teams finally approached the looming gates of Yuki three days later, they all shiver with anticipation. Hermione smiled.

"Diplomacy: Think twice before saying nothing"

Kurenai laughed at her bold statement and everyone was inclined to agree - angering a foreign village wasn't something that went over well.

Looking ahead, whatever lay beyond these walls was going to have its part in changing their lives forever.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven - Permafrost

It was official. Hara no Risika was bored out of her mind - literately.

It wasn't often that the exalted niece of the Rikkakage ever got that way. Being as beautiful and mysterious as she was, the girl had a large fan club consisting of the opposite sex. But it was her worldly attributes that everyone had to worry about.

It was all because Risika was the heir to the Hara clan, the mind-gifted telepaths. And it was power that allowed her toinvade anyone's mind uninvited that had caused her to grow up the way she had. It was in peeking into the minds of men that she realized at a young age how chauvinistic the greater lot where that allowed her to develop her talents in tormenting them.

She did this by spotting her lush ebony hair in childish corkscrew curls. It cascaded down her back like a waterfall to be tied off in a ponytail at he shoulders. That also allowed her eyes, orbs like pure liquid gold, to shine brightly against her delicate porcelain skin. But the real kicker to her image was he form concealing clothing. Herbulky weighted black dress fell over a fur lined white tunic and leggings kept all guys guessing as to what she kept to passionately hidden underneath.

But at this very moment, the bored to tears thirteen year old sighed gloomily as she used her bloodline limit abilities to pick through the minds the chuunin guards who were having a conversation nearby. It was a pair best friends, or they had been during their genin days, but there was a hidden contempt among them now. Chuunin #one was spreading rumors that was keep wrecking chuunin #two's love life, while chuunin #two was secretly slipping a drug into chuunin #one's food that was slowly making him impotent.

It was something that Risika knew she should report to her uncle, but she was also one of Yukigakure's top feminists. She saw the conflict as a prefect way of keeping such fools from contributing to the gene pool, so in away, she had done a good thing today.

But it wasn't as if she hated men either. The only thing that kept her at the village gates this morning was a chance a 'greet' the arriving genin teams from the other shinobi villages partaking the Chuunin Exams that Yuki was holding this time and check out new arrivals. One of her favorite pastimes was teasing and tormenting all boys worthy of her attention. She liked their reactions of shock, horror and dejection when finally stopped pulling their strings and left in search of her next victim.

She was to be looked at, not touched.

A soft a tapping noise caught her attention from the outside world and she happily extracted herself from the mind of chuunin #two and back into her own. Turning, Risika looked across the distance between the two posts to where Shoushin, one of her male teammates was sitting.

Now in her opinion, Nadare Shoushin was a fine looking specimen. With pale green hair, deep soulful brown eyes and body of a god dressed in weighted white/gray camouflage battle clothes, he had everything a girl would want in a guy when it came to the appearance department - totally playing his name, Heartbreak, to a T. He even had a great personality - kind, gentle and concerning, but there was only one downside. He was a mute. It was well known in Aisu that the Nadare was a clan of mutes. The foremost in stealth, over half the clan became Hunter-nin as soon as rank allowed. That did not make for good boyfriend material.

Risika sighed. "What is it Shoushin?"

The green haired boy grinned at her, and began a stream of sign language seals, preferring that the village 'Ice Princess' did not enter his mind.

- People approaching. Looks like genin teams -

"Hooray! Goodbye boredom, hello victims!"

- You're so evil… -

The ebony haired girl blew him a quick kiss before scrambling to the wall to look down over the gates. Sure enough, not one, but three teams of genin approaching. Heart beating with sadistic excitement, she propelled herself over the wall.

"Risika-hime! Don't!" she heard chuunin #one shout, but it seemed a moot point when Shoushin, who was sweatdropping, joining her.

The pair landed squarely in front of the nine genin and their three senseis.

"Halt! Who goes there?" she snapped, hands of her hips and looking every bit the part of her patented Ice Princess role.

She couldn't help but smile sinisterly as one of boys let out a fascinating yelp and ducked behind his teammates, looking as if he was ready to piss his pants whist everyone else sweatdropped.

Within seconds, she cast a quick scan over the group to for data.

The first team had a nice mix. The first boy had spiky brown hair seemed to have some sort of relationship with his dog. The second boy wore dark sunglasses that added to his stoic image and was completely bug-ridden - literately. Their female teammate, a timid indigo haired girl, had a pair of strange eyes that seemed to look right through her.

The second team was more interesting then the first. The genin all seemed to only been recently trained in the shinobi arts. The first boy, a particularly handsome one, appeared to be detached from the mortal coil. The second boy, a gangly redhead, seemed to have the strange chill of death attached to him. Their female teammate sported bushy hair, an impressive sword and an advanced intellectual mind.

The third and finally team was her favorite. The first boy gazed into her eyes fearlessly, his pale emotionless expression blasé. But she also caught a glint those eyes and she waggled her eyebrows at him, scoring herself a blush! The second boy had the brightest blonde hair and dressed in eye-gouging orange with dark goggles - he even had the most beautiful bird (a mythical phoenix!) perched on his shoulder. But his mind was hard to read and it reminding her dispassionately of her final teammate Akumu. And finally, their female teammate made her kind of jealous. Apparently this pink haired chick had a lot more to her mind then at first glance.

The thing that was really interesting though was that the second's team sensei looked just as old as they did not to mention that he was a ghost! All that aside, the silver haired jounin sensei of the third team stepped forward, unperturbed by her appearance.

"Konoha genin teams Seven, Seven ½ and Eight reporting for the Chuunin Exams. And you are genin are you not?"

Risika smiled thinly, detesting the man already - he was a pervert! "Yes. I am Hara no Risika and this is my teammate Nadare Shoushin" she gestured to Shoushin. "We are you welcoming committee. The Rikkakage personally gave us specific instructions to confirm that you are who you say you are and then lead you to the lodgings you be staying for your duration here in Yuki. Any questions?"

The boy that had nearly pissed himself when he first laid eyes on her seemed to have gained some confidence.

"And why would the Rikkakage personally give you instructions? Are you special or something?"

Risika gazed at Shoushin. The stealth-genin smirked before signing to her. - Looks like we have smart-ass. I hope I get to fight him during the exams -

She laughed. "Ditto!" turning back to the annoyance, she glared, her golden eyes flashing dangerously. "Well I dunno know fleabag, but maybe its because my otooji-sama loves me"

The dog-genin blanched.

At his side, the goggled genin in orange snickered. "Smooth Kiba. Didn't you ever know it's always disastrous to anger women no matter what strength or ranking title they might have? But really… pissing off a princess? You are soo screwed!"

"Shut up!"

Risika inwardly grinned as the cute dark haired boy scowled at the pair and then cast her a smirk, barley able to contain another blush. Turning to Shoushin one last time, she signed to him.

- I am going to have soo much fun! -

"For precaution they say! For the safety of the village they say!" Those arrogant bastards! I hate 'um, I hate 'um - I HATE 'UM!"

The last words were bellowed out as loud as possible, echoing back off the frozen landscape. Nothing could be seen through the expanse of white until a ranting young man with shoulder length platinum blonde hair came cussing and swearing, screaming out his anger to nobody in particular. His wore his clan colors - solid blue with two circles (white surrounded by indigo on the back) with distain. Although he liked his fur-lined jumpsuit since it kept him warn during the winter chill, he hated having to be a barer of the clan colors.

Why?

Tsukiaoi Akumu hated his clan.

To suit his mood, which always seemed to be glum, he wore a pair dark mirrored glasses and a thick white belt wrapped around his waist that clashed horribly with the outfit - just the way he liked it.

But today all he could only growl miserably to himself as he stamped purposely towards his team's training grounds. It wasn't a secret that the clan heir detested every single blood relative over the age of twenty. As a matter of fact he even some of the younger ones too.

For the teen, he was furiously frustrated.

Today had been yet another day that he had been forced to have his monthly checkup. They had purposely picked this day make him demonstrate the strength of his seal. It must have been some kind of punishment because his parents knew that today was the day that Toushou-sensei had signed his team up for gate duty. Although that job was meant for chuunin, the Rikkakage had given his team the 'honor' of getting to 'greet' the genin representatives from the various villages participating in Chuunin Exams. Even though the job was boring, it paid good money and he wouldn't have had to deal with a room full of grumpy old people.

As always, the seal was just as secure as always, and his family allowed him to leave.

As he made his way over the dunes and into the clearing, he spotted his teammates where they always were - waiting under one desolate little skeleton tree. His mood lightened when he caught sight of Shoushin, snoozing leisurely upon his favorite snowdrift. As for Risika, well… she had a look on her face that all men had to be afraid of. It was that malicious grin that always graced her face whenever she was getting ready for the 'kill'.

Deciding to be the first to break the ice, Akumu grinned wilily and greeted the Ice Princess with a "So Ri, how many hearts have you broken today?"

The ebony haired girl looked up, her corkscrew curls bobbing. She pouted, her golden eyes getting that 'fake-teary-look'

"None…"

His eyes widened behind his glasses.

"Hell hath frozen over!" he jibbed, dropping down next to her on the snow so that she was assaulted by a mini blizzard.

She glared at him for a second, both over the comment and the snow in her face. She knitted her eyebrows one last time for good measure before she let out a long breath of billowing steaming into the chilly air and then bopped him over the head.

"ITAI! What the hell was that for?"

Risika sniffed indignantly. "When I meant none, I didn't mean that I didn't have plans. We got some new arrivals today - fresh meat!"

Shoushin harrumphed.

"Oh be quite you," she reprimanded, giving their mute teammate a gab to the ribs. The green haired boy managed his 'Aren't I always?' look at the same time Akumu winced for his sake. When that was down, hr turned back to the resident Ice Princess.

"So what village arrived today?"

"Konoha. They sent three teams and there were six boys. I made a quick scan and it actually wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Out of the six, only two appealed in appearances from what I could see and there was only one undesirable" she shuddered and stuck a finger down her throat to make herself gag. "I mean this dude's body was completely infested with bugs! Yuck!"

The white haired teen had to sigh.

"So, who's found your 'juicy' victim this time?"

"A handsome broody one with 'no surrender' looks and a fine ass to boot. When Shoushin and I were taking them to the inn, he kept giving me the owl eyes the entire time, meaning… I'm his first crush ever! Oooh I'm going to have soo much fun making him cry!" Risika laughed wickedly, rubbing her hands together like some evil despot. "But there was this one little problem. There was this girl - a pink haired chick with a freakishly large forehead and a weirdest mind I've ever peeked into - literally attached to him. Apparently she seems to have a thing for him. If I can accomplish my goal, I'll have crushed him and she'll be my newest disciple!"

Akumu shuddered. "Sadistic feminists. Fear the wrath…"

She smirked at him. "What?" she asked with mock innocence, "Do I make you cry wolfy?"

He snorted.

"You wish. I knew from the first moment I laid eyes on you that you were trouble"

"You were six" she replied was a deadpan frown.

"I was smart! What's the point about pinning over the untouchable? Plus, you hide anything worth seeing"

Risika looked down at her baggy dress and smiled. "Well I like it this way - keeps the guys guessing as to what's underneath the underneath and what they're never going to get see. I'm like a cookie jar with it's lid glued on!" she sobered up after a few seconds, composing herself and giving him a rare smile. "So how'd the monthly checkup go? Did the elders dissect you?"

He frowned. "With their eyes maybe. I spent an hour of getting poked and prodded by every singel on of those old geezers. Heck, I could classify each of them by their body odor!"

"Ewe!"

"You asked"

Shoushin snickered, the soft grunt leaving his lungs as he pushed himself into an upright sitting position.

- Geeze man, you get it bad sometimes. Do you ever think they'll set you 'free'? -

"Maa, maybe when I die in the line of fire or keel over from old age"

- Sucks to be you -

"Don't I know it…"

Akumu growled once more, removing his glasses to rub his tired eyes, he gave worthy scratch to an itch on the back of his head. Allowing himself to stretch, he unfurled his long furry white tail from around his waist and yawned, revealing a pair of large fangs to the sky as he leaned back.

"So brat, are you going let me fight your opponents this Chuunin Exam?"

'In your dreams Gobi…'

"Well, I'll always have those…"

Sometimes it really sucked to be Jinchuuriki…


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight - Of Lovesickness and Confidence

"That chick is evil I tell you - evil!"

Harry sweatdropped. His and Ron's room, which was linked by a door to Naruto and Sasuke's, was beginning to feel a little overcrowded. For the last twenty minutes he and his friends had played host to Kiba, Shino and Akumaru, all the while listened to Kiba as he complained about everything, mostly just to say that the beautifully icy girl they had just met was evil. The dog-genin ranted, occasionally changing his story when someone glared at him.

"I swear! She's like physic or something! When she showed Shino and I to our room, she was laughing for absolutely no reason. When I asked what was so funny, she said the time I peed my pants at the academy when Naruto lit the classroom on fire was hilarious. How could she have known that?"

"Maybe you were hallucinating?" Ron snickered from across the room. "I mean as much as you complain about her, you slobber over her about as much as do Hermione"

"He likes Hermione?" Naruto yelped, poking his head into their room. "Has he gone crazy or something?"

"Oh, you should see the way he acts around her. Does the term 'lovesick puppy' ring any bells? The only problem is, he doesn't go about his courting very well"

Harry snorted. "That's an understatement if I ever heard one - he puked on her once"

Naruto's laughter filled both rooms. Kiba, annoyed by the mockery from the blonde, the brunette and redhead, whined. "Shino, back me up here!"

The bug-genin looked coolly at his teammate, his placid expression betraying no emotion.

"I don't see any problem," he replied softly. "The truth is the truth"

Akumaru let out a howl worthy of any wounded dog, planting a slobbery wet doggy kiss on his master's cheek as a show of support.

Now it was Sasuke's turn to sigh, but it wasn't because of Kiba's behavior. He could barely hear the sounds of his teammate laughing or of Harry and Ron whispering about the kinds of evil they had faced during their first year at Hogwarts. But for him, all he could do for the last twenty minutes was to think of said 'evil' girl. As he thought about her, all worldly worries, which had plagued his life for soo long, seemed to vanish entirely.

He thought about how he had never seen another girl look so prefect. She didn't wear the sorts of makeup that Sakura, Ino or all his other fangirls back in Konoha wore - she didn't need it. For the first time, he actually saw a girl his age that wasn't trying to show off to the world or try to get him for that matter. Her midnight hair with just a dash of childishness, her fearless golden eyes and her pale skin.

Perfect.

Hara no Risika…

"Yoo-hoo! Earth to Uchiha Sasuke! Are you there? Breath man, breath!"

He snapped out of his daydream with a gasp, looking up to see that his own room was now full of the people that had only seconds ago been in the other room. They all seemed awfully quite and it was then did his realize that he was blushing, only causing the pink in his cheeks to become flaming red.

The very sight caused almost all the mouths the room to drop open. Uchiha Sasuke, Hidden Leaf's very own Ice Prince, was blushing! Naruto and Kiba were actually gapping like fish out of water, their jaws unhinged. And when the shock finally wore off, Naruto's face spilt into his widest vulpine grin ever and he began to point exaggeratedly at the crimson-faced boy whist he danced around room laughing his head off.

"Sasuke has crush! Sasuke has crush! Great Kami, I never thought I'd see the day when the great and powerful Uchiha forgot about the perpetual stick up his ass and decided to think of a little something called L-O-V-E!"

The rest of the room's occupants joined in with their own hoots laughter and catcalls, making Sasuke grit his teeth against the offending noise.

That's also what allowed Kiba the distraction enough to poked him in the side, an evil grin plastered on his face. "Geeze, nobody tell Sakura, or the whole of Konoha's fangirl population for that matter! If they get wind of this, you'll have a catfight on your hands for sure…" the dog-genin paused, his face suddenly drooping. "Shimata! That also means I lost my bet!"

"What bet?"

"That you were gay. I'm soo going to loose a lot of money…"

Unable to steam the blood flow rushing to his cheeks, both from embracement and rage, Sasuke simply slugged Kiba in the face. The dog-genin howled in pain, backpedaling whist he held his nose.

"What was that for?" he yelled. "At least I'm not the one who's just run off to go tell our senseis!"

Eyes widening, Sasuke realized that Naruto was no longer in the room and that door was ominously wide open…

Okay, so it was after you got over the fact that winters in Snow Country were what gave it its name, it was a pretty nice place. The many shops, houses and buildings that made up the village had a rustic old fashion winter resort, giving off a warm and welcoming feel. And out on the icy streets that could practically be skated on, there were people of all sorts; their clothing consisting of most thermal to the most skin bared.

Naruto shivered at the sight and pulled the hood of his large orange cloak closer. He was thankful for the warm concealing clothing and the new goggles he had been given to hide his eyes from the public. If this had been Konoha, he knew that people would have started to get suspicious.

He had only just started to take a walk glacier training grounds when a wail of pain stopped him in his tracks.

"Stop! I didn't do it. Please stop it!"

The sound of a loud resounding thwack was followed by a pitiful whimper.

"Why won't you just shut up usuratonkachi? You are in no position to back talk us brat!"

The blonde left eyebrow began to twitch, his anger rising. His heightened senses allowed him to pick up on the individual smells three people; an intoxication blend of coppery blood, fear, hate and killing intent.

A harsh laugh, full of snide cruelty caused the icy slops to echo. "Why are you even bother asking her that question Azuke? She's so dumb, it just goes in one ear and out the other!"

Naruto slipped silently closer, bracing himself against an ice wall, and peeked around. In the distance he spotted a trio of genin, two boys looming over the form a sobbing girl. While she cried, he noticed that she was covered in yellowish lacerations and bruises, surrounded by the scattered remains of her ashen hair, having only recent having been shorn off by force.

The sight caused the young demon vessel's blood to boil.

'Hey Kyuubi! Do you mind helping me save a damsel in distress?'

The fox snorted.

"Only if she of my species" it muttered sleepily. "Give me your eyes and let me see what's happening"

Focusing, Naruto summoned the Kyuubi's youkai chakra into his eyes, causing the slitted blue orbs to become crimson. What he didn't expect was when he heard the demon growled angrily, letting loose its own harsh killing intent directed at the girl's two attackers.

"Let me tare them to shreds!"

Focusing on the girl, their hands fell into a familiar set of seals just at the same moment one of the boys prepared to strike her a nasty looking tetsubo.

"Kawarimi!"

In a flash, Naruto had replaced the girl with enough time to lash out with his foot and catch the club-wielding boy in the chest. He was thrown directly into the other boy, causing them to come crashing down in a heap ten feet away.

It was then that the blonde noticed that the pair was identical. They had the same baleful brown eyes; waist length salt & pepper hair and matching earthen toned battle clothes. Though the thing that set these brothers apart was that the other boy had a Fuuma Shuriken strapped to his back. The pair practically reeked of killing intent, not to mention that their hitai-ates were displayed haughtily on their foreheads.

Hidden Stone.

The twin that Naruto had struck down growled, scrambling to his feet along with his brother, raising his club into the air.

"Why you little shit! I'll make you pay for that!"

The blonde only rolled his eyes. "Big words for a coward who beats defenseless girls into submission. You make me sick!"

"Lets put the idiot in his place Nuke. No one dares to mock a Daikyokuzan and live!" the brother sneered, unstrapping his Fuuma Shuriken.

"Sure thing Azuke. Lets take out some of the competition" Nuke grinned wickedly.

Prepared from the moment he and Kyuubi had stepped in unwelcome, Naruto shed his winter robes and dropped into a battle stance.

They noticed his hitai-ate immediately.

"A Leaf genin!"

He smirked at them.

"Damn strait! Now bring it one you dip-shits! You're going to get your assess kicked!"

Nuke attacked first, leaping forwarding with an unprepared roundhouse kick while he brought his tetsubo into the spin. At the same time, Azuke summoned up a Rising Earth Spike to distract him and launched the large throwing star.

For Naruto, it was only thanks to one of ero-sennin's special Christmas presents that blonde effortlessly dodged both attacks.

Caught completely of guard, the stone twins whirled around looking every which way for him.

"Up here!"

Naruto waved down at them from his spot stuck to one of the ice walls five feet above them.

"Damn you!" Azuke snarled, launching his Fuuma Shuriken again, only to miss again. "You dirty little leaf scum. All you Konoha nin are pathetic excuses that should be exterminated! That's why that foolish Hokage of yours was killed!"

Something inside Naruto snapped. No one - no one insults his father and gets away with it!

"Hirashin no Jutsu"

Before the two stone-genin could blink, he vanished in a blur of yellow, leaving only an afterimage behind. Using the incredible speeds of his father's jutsu, Naruto flashed past the now frightened pair, standing long enough in one spot to leave an afterimage to deter them, and was able to strike them numerous times before they could even get in a hit.

This was how the twins of Daikyokuzan clan learned exactly why the Yondaime Hokage of Konoha's Flying Thunder God Technique, among many others, was one technique that the people of Iwagakure had come to fear.

Stopping unexpectantly, he caught ahold of their heads and simultaneously creaked them together.

"Don't you dare insult my father or my people ever again!" he growled at them, backing away slowly for dramatic effect whilst they regained their senses.

While this was all happened, girl had been watching in shock, her wounds to numerous at the moment to allow her help. But behind nearly broken glasses, wide blue/gray eyes gazed on with astonishment and admiration.

Although Naruto had beaten the brothers thoroughly, Nuke wasn't going to beat so easily. He smirking viscously, clasping hands with his brother, the boys prepared their last attack, but this this time focused it on the girl and slammed their free hands upon the ground.

"Doton: Tsuin Tsuchi Yaiba no Jutsu!"

Naruto gasped as a pair of large spinning earth blades appeared, but before he could move to help the girl (or even prepare another Kawarimi), she cried out something and vanished in swirl of green light. In her place though, was a small knarred tree. The earth blades struck harmlessly against the trunk, cutting into the bark only an inch.

The three boys started at the tree in shock for a moment, until Azuke, eye wide, and tackled his brother. "Baka!" he snapped. "What are we going to do now? Kiraihana-sempai is going to kill us! She might hate the girl as much as we do, but she's still her pupil!"

Nuke tried his best to glare, but failed miserably.

"How was I supposed to know she was going to use her Kekkei Genkai? She knows her limits!"

"Well I'm not sticking around. Lets get out of here!"

The stone twins ran, leaving their fight unfinished. Alone now, all Naruto could do was stare at the tree.

'Where'd she go?'

"The girl isn't gone kit" Kyuubi sighed, only half pleased with how the fight turned out. "That tree is the girl"

'Hunh?'

"She is part of the Kinezumi clan - very old. I believe they originally prayed to the Earth Goddess and as a reward for their faithfulness, she bestowed upon them the immortal second form of mystical tree. Since they worshiped the Earth, the Biju had no qualms with them. As you can see by the look of her, she is from a more purer branch of that bloodline"

'But why would a clan with the power to turn into trees name themselves after a squirrel?'

"You're asking me? How should I know?"

Naruto approached the tree, looking it over in fascination. The disfiguration of the wood was interestingly peculiar. Reaching out, he touched a little knot on the bark and gasped when it popped off into his hands.

He let out a cry of horror.

'Kuso! What am I suppose to do? That could have been her finger! Stupid, stupid, stupid!' he babbled hysterically.

But Kyuubi only began to roar with laughter. The sound, in Naruto's opinion, was loud enough for the whole world to here.

"You little fool! I'll agree that you are stupid, but that wasn't her finger - it's a burl!"

'A burl? What's a burl'

"Knots and irregularities in wood. You see those spiky lumps on her trunk? Those are burls. The one you hold in you hand is sort of like a seed, but it can't grow anything. Though they are highly magical - great for potions, so keep it with you since you might just need it one day"

Naruto flushed. 'Yeah, yeah. So how am I supposed to wake her up?' he asked as he moved closer, appraising the natural art work that was this girl's second form.

The fox rolled its eyes. "I suppose a little bit of water should work"

Grinning, the blonde summoned up a small waterfall. The suiton jutsu soaked the tree, causing it shudder and shrink into the shape of a girl, the bark still incasing her like armor.

"Ewe!"

The girl squealed, unaware of his presence as she began to dance about, scratching aggregately at her bark in hopes of peeling it off.

"Need any help?"

She stopped instantly and looked at him, her murky eyes fearful. "…Umm... s-sure…"

Naruto stepped closer; reaching out and gently began to peel the bark away from her skin. The task its self was tedious, as he had to be very careful not to tare any of her skin off as he separated it from the bark.

"So… what's your name? I'm Namikaze Naruto"

"…Kinezumi Kinomi…"

"That sure is an… original name"

She snorted.

"Tell me about it. My okaa-san wanted to name me Izumi, but my otou-san wanted Kinomi. As you see, my otou-san won - he's umm... kinda eccentric. I mean really, who in their right mind would want to name their own child 'nut'?"

Naruto grinned wilily. "You should be happy it's only that. After all, my name means fishcake!"

That got her laughing.

"So, do you mind telling why two were attacking you?"

She stiffed slightly. Looking up at the sky, she sighed pulled down her overcoat's (which had the cute symbol of a squirrel on the back) collar to reveal her own Iwa hitai-ate underneath. After hiding it again, she looked at the ground, not meeting his gaze.

"They are my teammates. It was the worst paring of genin in our graduating class, but I was the only genin left over after they had paired off the other teams. Anyway… they think I'm weak"

Naruto was genuinely interested now. "Why? You haven't done anything to show that have you?"

She shook her head. "No, but almost everyone in Iwagakure thinks that. Although my clan is famous for our bloodline limit, my family seems to be mocked by everyone - relatives included. Its either because we still follow the ways our ancestors from Grass Country, or maybe they think I'll end up turning out like my elder sisters"

"What did they do?"

"Nothing... really. Many young nin suffered the new requirements set after the war with Konoha. Unable to stand the pressures, my two eldest sisters became missing-nin, smuggled my other sister along with them, and fled to the fabled Wizarding World"

Naruto was shocked that she knew about the Wizarding World, even if she didn't know if it truly existed, but decided to say nothing and focus on they're conversation to keep her calm during her de-barking.

"How old were they?"

"Natsu was eight, Aki was thirteen - newly promoted to chuunin, and Uxinta was nineteen - Anbu medic-nin. I kind of wish they had taken me too, but I was only five at the time so - itai!"

They winced at the same time as he removed the last piece of bark from her cheek, accidentally causing the skin to split.

"Gomen!"

She shook her head. "I-its okay. See, its already doing its thing," she pointed to the cut on her cheek and Naruto watched with morbid fascination as yellowish sap began to ooze from the wound, sealing it up so that it would have the chance to heal.

"That is soo cool!"

Kinomi blushed.

"Thanks. Most people are grossed out when they see it. The possessors of the Nentenueki have many strange abilities, some more original then others…"

Naruto only laughed. "Its gross alright, but that's what makes it unique. I've near seem anything like it before!"

They were silent for a moment.

"So… are you really the son of Yellow Flash?"

"A-am I too late?"

From a distance, a pair of pale eyes watched forlornly as the two genin laughed together. As sad sigh past over wind-chapped lips, her heart clenching painfully. From where she spied, Hyuuga Hinata cursed her shyness and unrelenting bad luck. At this moment she wished she had been more confidence in herself so that she could just marched up to Naruto and confessed how she felt.

She had watched it all; watching her golden sweetheart save that defenseless Stone-genin was so brave. But the after effects of the rescue hadn't been what the young heiress had expected. The interaction between Naruto and the foreign girl seemed so free, something that she could hardly see herself doing without having blushed crimson and fainted dead away.

"I'll j-just have to p-prove myself," she whispered, vowing to be brave as she took a calming breath and fisted her knuckles.

The only way she would be able to get Naruto's attention was to stand out and to be confident. The best place to prove herself would be during the exams - she would get to the finals this time - and she would make sure that when she spoke to him, she wouldn't pass of from hyperventilation.

Feeling a little more confidant with her goal, Hinata smiled.

"I'll make you proud of me Naruto-kun. Just wait and see!"


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine - The Chuunin Exams prt. 1

Only three days had past since their arrival in Yuki and the first test of the Chuunin Exams was about to begin. As they entered the large solarium atop of Rikkakage Tower that looked like an igloo, the fluttering chatter of over a hundred hopeful genin met their ears.

Sasuke stifled a yawn, having woken up early for some last minute training. He gazed about in hopes of catching a glimpse of Risika. Fighting off an unwanted blush, the Uchiha forced himself to focus on the test that was about to take place.

It had been surprising to say the least that there were so few genin attending the exams this time - they didn't even bother to trick them into thinking they had the wrong room like the last time. As he looked around the auditorium, he noticed that all the desks surrounded a platform at the far end. Standing at the center of the dais a very tall (taller then Kakashi tall) sever young Anbu with a bald tattooed head stood with his hands behind his back clutching a weasel mask.

He sighed, rolling his eyes. This man's stern silent pose that could send shivers down a person's spine reminded him too much of Morino Ibiki, Konoha's interrogator and the last exam's first officiator. What was it with people and their mind-boggling similarities?

As he knew he was being stared at, man looked up and the dark haired boy gasped. He was blind.

"What's wrong Sasuke-kun?"

He grimaced as Sakura put a hand on his arm. Shacking her off, he shook his head.

"It's nothing. Just a creepy looking man"

"Oooh, I wouldn't let Gyouko-san hear you saying that if I were you…"

Sasuke felt his pulse quicken and he turned to looking into one Hara no Risika's disturbing golden eyes. Getting his wits back, he tried his best glare. "And why's that?"

The snow-nin smirked.

"Because he's killed men for less, especially foolish little boys like you"

"Sasuke-kun is not foolish nor is he a little boy!" Sakura snapped, stepping forward as if to 'protect' him from the other girl.

Risika grinned maliciously. "The kitty does have claws! Did you know a girl only gets jealous when the boy she likes, likes someone else?"

"Why you - "

The dark haired boy winced inwardly as his teammate launched herself at the beauty before them. The snow-nin only brushed aside her curls and produced some lightning quick seals, held out one arm and pointed.

"Hijutsu: Kinen Irege no Jutsu!"

Sakura forehead halted in mid-lunge, her eyes glazing over. After a few seconds, she shook her head and blinked.

"Oh, I'm sorry" she apologized, making Sasuke raise an eyebrow in confusion. The pink haired kunoichi turned to him. "You have a really nice girlfriendSasuke-kun. Take good care of her"

'Girlfriend?'

Sasuke's eyes were nearly threatening to pop out when Sakura waved goodbye and bounced off to go talk with Hermione and Hinata. He looked at Risika.

"How did you do that?" he gasped, his mind still having trouble processing what he had just witnessed.

The golden-eyed genin grinned mischievously. "It was only a little bloodline jutsu. She'll be at my throat and slobbering all over you in a couple of hours - have fun whilst it lasts!"

She vanished into the crowd of genins before he could say anything. He proceeded to follow in the direction she had gone when a crashed full on into another genin. Gathering his bearings, Sasuke looked up into the bottomless eye of older boy from Hidden Grass.

The boy had a strange peculiar look; tufts of dark green hair and almost scaly looking skin were all that could be seen from his almost full-body wrap. But the oddest thing about this boy was that his inner clothing seemed to radiate heat.

"Why you little creep!" the grass-genin snapped, preparing to punch as the two scrambled back to their feet, an audience of genin watching them.

"Taiyo! Stop it!"

The Uchiha was caught off guard as a blur of silver and yellow suddenly darted between them; a girl holding her arms out like a shield. Although he could only see her backside, and of that she wore a light yellow winter jumpsuit and had long slivery white hair that tickled his face.

"Do you always have to make a 'great' first impression dobe?"

Sasuke looked around to see another that another second girl was approaching. Her haunting jade eyes darted about as if she was waiting to be attacked and she twitched nervously as if she had just taken drugs. A creepy smile crossed her face as she laced her fingers through her tricolor black/white/green hair. If he ever thought Sakura's original clothes had been impractical, this girl took the cake. It wasn't even spring and yet she wore a tight fitting tank top and Capri's that had loose mesh netting stitched on like belled sleeves. Had she been fighting or trying to make a getaway through a forest, those would have gotten snagged for sure. She was even wearing her hitai-ate on her left arm upside down.

'Eccentric…'

The green haired genin glowered at her. "And what's it to you Lulu?" he hissed. "And I'm not a dobe you crazy bitch!"

The silver hair genin in front of Sasuke sighed. "Come on guys, you know this is the reason why we haven't passed the Chuunin Exams for the last five times! Do you really want all the other teams knowing that we don't have great teamwork?"

Taiyo glowered.

"That wasn't my fault Sora!"

"Then who was it? You know damn well that you were the one who set Lulu off,"

What happened next was a complete surprise to the young Sharingan user. Lulu, having not been paying attention, suddenly screamed at the sound of her name, jumping at least ten feet into the air.

"Ack! What's that noise?"

Sasuke found himself sweatdropping. That girl was bonkers!

"Is something wrong Lulu?" Sora frowned, almost fidgeting like her loony teammate by all the stares that her team had attracted these last few minutes.

Lulu glared, her left eye twitching. "What? No! I didn't just take a dollar and some gum from your smaller right pocket! What do you take me for?"

The brunette's eyes widened in shock as he spotted the tri-haired girl trying to hide a dollar and some gum behind her back. How did she move that fast without him seeing? He'd have to make sure to always have his Sharingan activated when she was around…

At the same time, Taiyo moved forward

"Give Sora back her stuff Sukonku"

Sasuke bit back a snicker. 'Her last name is Skunk? Makes sense with that hair...'

And it was a good thing that he had restrained himself because those 'evil' green eyes suddenly filled with murderous rage as Lulu body slammed her teammate, causing the pair to go tumbling into the snow. Then proceeded to take her anger out on the boy beneath her.

"DON'T YOU EVER CALL ME THAT AGAIN TOKAGERO TAIYO!"

"But it's your name Sukonku Lulu!"

"Never! I'll never be called such a vilely of vile names! I blame you, you sorry excuse for a mammal"

"I'm reptilian you schizo!"

During the fist fought argument, all the genin watching found themselves slowly backing away, or in the case of the members of the other Kusa teams - cheering Lulu on. These people were weird - weirder then he could have ever thought possible. Sora turned to him, another frown marring her pretty features.

"I'm so sorry you had to witness this - it happens all the time"

"All the time?"

She nodded. "Yeah. You'd better make a break for it now though. As soon as - "

"Sukonku Lulu, Tokagero Taiyo, Enzeru no Sora! What has gotten into you three?"

The two froze, both for different reasons, and whirled around. The person approaching was a willowy woman with hard black eyes and long purple hair.

With her appearance, fighting stopped. The three teens from Grass remained frozen - as well as all the other surrounding genin - Lulu and Taiyo looking up with black eyes, bloody noses and split lips, while Sora wilted under her sensei's gaze.

"Gomen Mikomi-sensei!" Sora gasped, the first recover.

Her teammates nodded earnestly, Lulu and Taiyo separating from their deadlock. The jounin gloweded, giving her pupils a curt nod.

"Don't let happen again"

She vanished in a cloud of sulfuric smoke, causing all those assembled to start coughing. And as if fate willed it, the first exam officiator stepped forward, his unseeing eyes not wavering an inch.

"Alright you worthless little brats, lets see if you have what it takes to make it past me"

First Rule: You start off with ten points - this test uses a subtraction system - so basically if you answer all the questions correctly you keep your ten points. If you miss three questions you lose three points, thus bring you down to and to seven.

Second Rule: This is a team test and whether you pass or not will be determined by the combined score of your teammates. Each team will compete for as many points they can from the initial team total of 30.

Rule Three: No cheating...

"Pst! Help me out here - I'm dying!"

"Do you want to get caught?"

"Do you want to pass?"

"…"

"My sentiments exactly"

Hermione sighed as she tuned out the other genin whispering around her and focused on her questions. From what Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura had explained from their experience with the exam last year was that the point of this test was to cheat - a Cheater's Test. The thought itself made her sick to her stomach since she had never cheated in her life.

Gazing around from the corner of her right eye, the bushy haired brunette caught sight of familiar faces.

Ron's eyes were black, and she was pretty sure from the way he was looking at the examiner, he was spying into the man's soul. Naruto's eyes had a glazed over look to them, so she was certain that he was busy nagging Kyuubi for the answers. That girl they had met at the village gates, Hara no Risika, had her thumb and forefinger of both hands pressed against her temples, and like Ron was also staring adamantly at the examiner.

From the corner of her left eye, Hermione wasn't surprised to other doing the same.

Shockingly enough Harry had brought his pet snake Mashita along and it was busy relaying him back the information through quite hissing. Like the snake, Kiba's dog Akamaru was busy spying on the closest genin's paper while Kiba pretended to be writing something till he came back with the answers. And finally the vague, hardly able to see superimposed image of Inner Sakura loomed over the genin next to Sakura, telepathically relaying the information.

Looking down at her own paper, the young witch had to agree that it was impossible to do without cheating.

Keeping her face bare of emotion, she slowly slipped her wand out of her robe pocket and held it under her desk. She had to admit that studying those Professor's manuals on her free time during her time at Hogwarts had really paid off. Slowly doing the wand movements, the girl pointed the tip up to just beneath her paper on the desk.

"Maximus Revealus!"

Her simple whisper caused a flurry of sparks to shot out and seep into the table. She watched with a satisfied smile while she returned her wand to her pocket, the correct answers appearing on her paper. But when she hears smalls gasps coming from all those near her, she realized the spell had done its work and more - the correct answers had apparently appeared on the papers of the genin around her too.

Oh well. Ron said he had wanted some competition anyway…

"Okay brats! Time's up!"

She looked around and noticed that while she had been so absorbed, at least four teams had been removed from the room for having bad mouthed or gotten caught. The remaining genin groaned in protest, but allowed for their tests to be collected.

Returning to his dais, the blind man began to sort through the many test papers, somehow tallying up their scores. After a few minutes of agonizing silence, he looked up at them and dispatched all those who had failed in the written part.

Once that was through, he gazed at the remaining eighty-one genin.

"Good job to all of you" Enkai nodded. "For all of you who have passed, the Tenth Question is now available"

He looked passed them to the door at the back of the large solarium and nodded. Turning, they all watched as two men, both older then the first examiner, walked through the rows to join him on the dais. The first man, short and battle worn in appearance wore a white kimono with a black sash, his snow white hair matching it perfectly. The second man was the opposite of the first. He was tall and suave, wearing a black kimono with a white sash, his midnight black hair adding to the overall image. Both carried a pair of wakizashi short swords.

They were both quite handsome…

The first man bowed. "Ohiyo genin, I'm Shiroi Naito and this is my partner Kuroi Dai" the second man bowed. "The Tenth Question of this test will not be what you are expecting. I am sure that those who participated in the pervious exams faced the Stay or Go question - this one is not quite the same"

Whispers drifted amongst the genin. What would the question be?

Dai, smirked. "Like Shiroi-san said, its not quite the same. With all arts of deception, one must be careful what choices the make. Here you must make your choice"

Enkai waved his hands to turn the attention back to him. Once he had it, the blind Anbu chuckled.

"The Tenth Question of this exam is the Deceptive Choice. One of these men is the officiator of the Second Exam, and he'll lead next test sight. The other is the Deceiver, and he'll lead you all on your way home. You and your team must now choose which of these men is next examiner - and don't even bother trying to sneak a peek Risika; the three of us are wearing inhibitors that make your bloodline powers useless"

The raven haired girl frowned. "No wonder I wasn't able to get the answers of you for the written!" she cursed.

"Well know, what is your choice?"

Hermione turned to Harry and Ron, who were glancing at the puzzled looks they were getting for Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, Kiba and Hinata. Shino just stood there saying nothing, but apparently he was busy concentrating on the men with the help one of his Kikkai.

"So Shino," Kiba whispered. "Any ideas?"

The stoic bug-boy looked at his teammate. "Both men have an air of deception to them. I am sure that both you and Akamaru can smell that"

"Sure, but what's that got to do with it?"

Hermione caught the hint.

"What Shino's saying is that he doesn't believe either of those who men are the examiner. Most likely they are a pair of Deceivers set up to lead all the genin foolish enough to follow away from the exam. I say we stay"

Without a saying a word, the three Konoha teams stood back and watched as the two men spilt up and walked out different doors at the far end of the room. Nervous chatter broke out as the group of eighty-one genin divided, some teams following Naito and others following Dai. In the end just over half, forty-six genin - thirteen teams - remained.

Enkai raised an eyebrow at the extent of the those who had figure following either of the two men was a bad idea. In total, out of the thirteen teams that remained there was Ame - one; Kiri - one; Iwa - one; Konoha - three; Kumo - two; Kusa - one; Suna - one; Taki - one; Yuki - two.

He grinned savagely. "So we've got an intelligent. Very well done"

A swirl of snow issued the arrival of some knew, and when it ended, a young jounin that was genderless in appearance appeared before them dressed in the basic Yuki jounin uniform with haired tied back. But it was the eyes that spooked everyone - the spoke as if they were the gates to hell.

"I am Itazuki no Seishouku, examiner for the Second Exam. If you want you prove what your worth, follow me now"

The thirteen teams of gathered genin stood before the seemingly impregnable ice cliffs of Hidden Snow. The six snow-nin were whispering excitedly together, as if they had been waiting forever for this part to come. Seishouku stopped before a looming arch, befit with an iron-wrought gate.

Beyond it was nothing but darkness.

"Thirteen teams? What an unlucky number…" he chuckled darkly, earning shivers from over half. "Very well. You have all reached the second half of the Chuunin Exams, and it is now that I welcome you to the Ice Caves of Doom!"


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten - The Chuunin Exams prt. 2

"Alright! I know those caves by the back of my hand!" one excited snow-nin shouted. "This'll be easy!"

The other forty-four genin looked at the boy and sweatdropped, the examiner rolling his eyes with exasperation. He finally clapped his hands, regaining the attention of the gathered genin.

"There are a few instructions I must give you all before you are allowed to venture into the Ice Caves of Doom. First; everyone of you must sign a waver before entering the caves"

So as it were, everyone quickly signed their forms and waited for further instruction. The jounin held up a glowing white stone the size of a bar of soap.

"Second; the object of this second exam is to locate the Glow Stones. Each team is required to collect four stones, one for each direction, in order qualify for the final exam. Third; only one member of each team is allowed to retrieve them - "

Those words met a lot of angry shouting. Seishouku just ignored them all, baring his teeth instead. When everyone finally calmed down, he began to speak again.

"Think of this as a mission gone awry - you are attacked by enemy nin while the valuable items you are to return to your village are scattered. During the fray, one of your teammates has been separated from you, and its put to the others to find him or her. Suffice to say, said missing teammate is the only one who knows how to find the missing items. Do you understand?"

There was a unanimous nod.

"Good. So now it gets more complicated. One genin from each team will be singled out and transported to different areas with the caves. You'll only have seventy-two hours in which to navigate the caves, recover the fours stones marked with the symbols for North, East, South and West, and be reunited with your teammates within the allotted time period to pass. If you and/or your teammates do not possess your Glow Stones, you'll be disqualified. Once you have your Glow Stones, they will give you the directions to the center most point of the caves, in which you will then be transported to the coliseum atop Mt. Eba-Hawaito"

More nods.

"Also I must warn you that if someone who goes against they're given duties, then they and their teammates will be automatically disqualified"

Mutters and groans wafted through the crowd.

"But how will the one of us that gets transported into the caves be chosen Itazuki-san?" a waterfall-nin ask.

"Good question" Seishouku nodded, and retrieved a small bag that was strapped to his back. Reaching in, he withdrew a trio of scrolls. "One these are scrolls has a built in transportation jutsu. Each one of you will receive a scroll, but only one of you will get the one that'll transport you into the caves"

It took five minutes for the teams to receive their scrolls. Gathered together, the nine from Konoha gazed down at their unopened scrolls.

"So," Kiba finally asked, "Which one of us do think is going to be 'chosen'"

Sasuke rolled his eyes and shock his head. "No clue mutt"

Kiba blew Sasuke a raspberry. All anxious to see who would be the one to collect the team's Glow Stones, the nine friends took deep breaths and unfurled their scrolls as fast as they could.

Nothing happened.

Naruto frowned, blonde eyebrows knitting together. "What the hell was that supposed to - "

The blonde was suddenly cut off as he disappeared, Harry and Hinata vanishing with him.

Sasuke, Sakura, Ron, Hermione, Kiba and Shino stared at the spot were their three companions that recently be standing. Glancing about, they noticed that crowd of genin had depleted slightly. Sasuke noticed that out of remaining he recognized were Risika, Shoushin, Taiyo, and Lulu, not to mention the twins Azuke and Nuke that Naruto had pointed out earlier. As a matter of fact, he swore he caught sight of Gaara and Kankoru from Sand.

A genin from Mist village sighed. "That wasn't so hard…"

Those words only caused the examiner to burst out laughing.

"That's what you think kid. The Ice Caves of Doom are complexly riddled with booby traps, secret passages and a wide assortment of dangerous creatures that lurk in those dark depths. You'll also have to fight each other to protect your teammate with the Glow Stones, while that teammate might just have to fight off others trying to usurp them of the stones. So I am regretful to say that I doubt even half of you will make it back alive. Have fun!"

Seishouku disappeared in a poof of smoke and the gates to the caves opened, leavening the remaining genin to enter at their own risk.

- Within the Ice Caves -

72 hours to go...

Akumu groaned. His eyes watered as he rubbed his tender head, his stomach reach to lurch. Gazing about, he noticed that he was in one of the dimly lit ice chambers that had to be at least fifty feet below ground. As the young vessel of the Gobi no Houkou got to his feet, the walls shimmered and danced with his refection - hell, he had been in these caves hundreds of times and it still reminded him of a carnival funhouse!

"Damn…" he muttered sourly. "What do I do now?"

The white haired boy shifted uneasily on one foot and looked towards the darkened tunnel to his left. Sighing, he pushed up his sunglasses and began to follow his noise. His heightened senses could make out various distant smells and sounds.

As he entered the tunnel, and traveled for a stretch, he noticed that it branched off into a dozen different tunnels. Just great.

"Hey whelp, follow the one that smells like orange rind. It overlaps another scent that seems familiar, but I can't seem to make it out"

'And why should I do that baka houkou?'

"Because I said so brat! Now do it!"

Akumu rolled his eyes. Of all the Biju he had to get stuck with, it had to be the Gobi. That damned wolf was the bane of his existence - literately.

'No'

"WHAT?"

Apparently the stupid demon still thought it ruled the roost.

'Shut up Gobi. Its your own fault that your inside of me - had you not sealed yourself…'

The wolf growled. "You know damn well that it wasn't my fault - I was only trying to get revenge on that miserable clan of yours"

The white haired boy didn't bother to answer. The demon was right that. The Tsukiaoi clan had had a grudge with the five-tailed wolf over a century. Tooth for a tooth, eye for an eye - that was how it all started. The great ookami had been both respected and feared back in the olden days. There had been one golden rule though, and that was to not trespass up it territory.

But many Tsukiaoi back then, as they still were today, were as daring as they we're daftly prideful. It only took the heads of the clan to ventured down into Gobi's territory and defiling its ancient resting place to awaken a now enraged wolf demon. And so the bloodshed would continue on, and then end just shy of ten years ago.

Akumu had been only three years old the day that the Gobi no Houkou launched its last attack upon his clan, voluntarily sealed itself inside his body out of spite. The voluntary sealing had caused the pair to merge, giving the white haired toddler a tail, claws, fangs, transformed eyes and heightened senses. It had been both victory and failure that day. On one hand, Akumu was the only remaining pureblood clan heir was tainted; on the other, the clan relentlessly tormented the boy.

And until the day he had become genin a little over a year and a half ago, the village had not known about his curse. Having spent years of having abuse after abuse inflicted upon him by his own clan and forced to be concealed within the most complex of genjutsus to hide what his parents called his 'monstrous appearance', Akumu had been a nervous wreck that had day by day wished for death. It was only in being teamed up with Hara no Risika and Nadare Shoushin that saved him...

'Alright, alright - don't sulk'

"I am a mighty demon!" Gobi bellowed with their head. "I do not sulk!"

'Sure…'

After that, Akumu tuned the annoying wolf out - it was worse then a little brother at times. But as asked, the wolf-boy followed the sent of orange rinds. It only took him ten minute to navigate following the scent when he finally stumbled into another cavern. Unbeknownst to him, he was unprepared for the sudden drop into another cavern below.

For a few moments, nothing happened, but a flare of bright light issued revealed that there was a Glow Stone nearby! But then his wolfish instincts suddenly went wild from the sent of fox, causing the young demon vessel to attack.

Within the darkness, his eyes made out the form of another genin, the very source of the orange rind and fox scent that was also attacking, whether it be for the stone or because he was being attacked, but Akumu found that he was unable to control the demonic power that now flowed freely through him.

Claws lashed out, ripping into clothing and flash, the retaliator doing the same. Unable to fight with bran itself, both fighters moved something more.

"Akumu Houkou!"

"Kitsune Kaji!"

The large passage was filled with two blinding lights of indigo and aqua at the same time as. The to attacks clashed mixing and suddenly turning to a soil lump of ice the glow ethereally, lighting up the passage even more. Licking their wounds, the two genin planned to attack again, but stopped dead in their tracks as soon as the got a good look at each other.

Akumu stood frozen, his mouth hanging open as he stared at the genin before him. If his eyes weren't deceiving him, then it was a boy who had a pair of furry yellow ears poking out of spiky golden hair. But the thing that struck him most wasn't the obvious accessory of the ears, but the eyes - a pair of wide blue orbs with black slitted pupils.

So much like his own eyes - those unique orbs with dark gray irises and white triangle pupils…

Demonic eyes.

The eyes of a half merged Jinchuuriki.

Shaking his head, he watched as the blonde rubbed his own eyes. Looking back at him, Akumu realized that the boy had noticed tail, which had become unwrapped during their attacks.

Finally, the blonde broke the silence.

"Y-you're Jinchuuriki aren't you"

Inside him, Gobi snorted with disgust. "As if it wasn't obvious…"

Akumu ignored the five-tailed wolf's comment, sufficing in giving the demon a quick mantle jab. Right now all he was more concerned with the fact that he had just met someone who was like himself.

"Then that means you are too"

"Damn… the spell wore off…" he muttered, hands reaching up to feel his own ears and the moments later grinned. "Yatta! What demon do you imprison?"

Akumu couldn't help but laugh, the tenseness in the air lessening. There was something about this blonde boy that reminded him of himself and it wasn't the demon that he carried.

"I'm a Tsukiaoi Akumu and my freeloading parasite is the Gobi no Houkou"

"Hey! I resent that!"

'Good! If it wasn't for you, my life would be soo much better!'

He watched with satisfaction as the boy's face pinched as if he smelt something stinky, his eyes half glazed as he apparently spoke telepathically with his own demon as he just had with Gobi.

"Well at least you're luckier me" he finally said, feline eyes twinkling. "All you have to do is have to deal with is a pathetic little whiner, I have to deal with a grouch who's got more ego then a peacock. I'm Namikaze Naruto and my pestilence is the Kyuubi no Kitsune"

"Kyuubi?" Gobi suddenly howled with laugher, the sound echoing off poor Akumu's eardrums. "That little excuse for a ninja cages Kyuubi? Oh of all the nine Biju, he deserves being sealed in such a pathetic human host!"

Both boys winced, apparently having heard close to the same thing.

"Ouch… parent/teenager relationship…" they snickered at the same time.

"Bite you tongue whelps!"

Although he hadn't been able to hear it, the nine-tailed fox must have echoed the five-tailed wolf's seething retort. Feeling happier then he had in along time, Akumu smiled.

"So…" Naruto grinned foxily. "Sorry I attacked you"

"Don't worry about it. It was my fault in the first place and its better then what Risika always does"

"Risika? You mean you're the other teammate of that crazy princess chick? Oh man - Sasuke-teme has such a crush on her!"

"Does he have black hair and, I shall quote, 'a no surrender look'?"

The blonde nodded enthusiastically. "Yep, that's him. She just so happens to be that damn ice cube's first crush too!"

"Ooh…" Akumu winced. "I pity that poor bastard…"

"Why so?"

"The only way to classify Risika is 'evil'. To her, men are toys to be punished - she likes to break them completely, but they still come back for more. She has a good memory so she can always get revenge, no matter how lame the mistake; she sometimes lapses into murderous rages that only a kitten can bring her out of; and she also has a wicked bloodline limit known as the Kamiomoi. She's actually driven a few people crazy with it too…"

Naruto snickered.

"A perfect match for the morose Uchiha"

"A Uchiha? As in the Sharingan?"

"Yep" he shuddered then. "Could you imagine the children?"

Akumu burst out laughing so he had tears in his eyes. Seeing those images could make any man die happy.

"So, what do we do about this Glow Stone?" he frowned, bending down to pick of the shimmering stone that was marked 'Minami' or 'South'. "We fought and tied after all…"

"Well," Naruto pondered. "Kyuubi thinks I should have it since it's a demon of the South. How about we look for our team's stones together? Double the man power! Two cool dudes cursed with wicked demon powers - we'll kick ass!"

And it wasn't a bad idea at all…

"So, how do you think your students will do?"

Kakashi looked up from his trusty orange book to see that one of other jounin present had apparently become bored with the chattering conversations (he hadn't been interested in the first place since he had some catch up with his book to do and Obito was busy talking to Kurenai…)

The other man didn't look entirely interesting, dressed the basic of snow jounin uniform, but with his impractical two-toned white/blue knee length hair that was braided and befit with senbon needles (most likely poisoned) like a whip with fangs, almost unearthly skin tone and bright fathomless ice blue eyes, he was quite formidable.

"Not a clue" Kakashi replied nonchalantly, eye glancing back to his book before snapping it shut. "But I daresay the have what it takes to pass. Hatake Kakashi, and you are?"

The other jounin smirked. "My, my - the Copy Nin. It's a pleasure. Kita no Toushou"

"Frostbite of the North. I should have known"

"Seems our reputations precedes us ne?" Toushou chuckled, nodding approvingly.

Kakashi rolled his eyes, a small smirk of his own forming under his mask. "So who makes up your team?

"Hara no Risika, Nadare Shoushin and Tsukiaoi Akumu"

The silver haired man snorted. "So that wintry girl belongs to you?"

The snow jounin burst out laughing.

"Ah so you've met the 'fair' Risika. Yes, she's mine alright - although I sometimes wish it wasn't so. She's also known as the no. #1 most dangerous woman under the age of twenty, so stay as far away from her as you can. Highly skilled in all sorts of manipulation - not even Rikkakage-sama can restrain that one. She's a double-edged blade with bite and takes much pleasure in causing not only her enemies, but her comrades pain"

"Reminds me of too many women I know"

"And isn't that a shame! Then there's the other two. Shoushin, due to his clan's unique heritage of muteness, tends to lean towards stealth and genjutsu - one of the best in his age group. Akumu… well the boy has his problems. How about you? What's your team like?"

"Well…" Kakashi began, wondering how to describe his students without giving anything away. "There is Haruno Sakura, who is innate with advanced neural pathways; Namikaze Naruto, my late sensei's child - he umm... has problems of his own as well; and Uchiha Sasuke, as of now, one of last three users of the Sharingan"

Although he hadn't said anything that could have warranted for the next question, Kita no Toushou had perked when he had mentioned Naruto.

"He's one of the Jinchuuriki isn't he?"

- Within the Ice Caves -

70 hours to go...

Elsewhere, Kinezumi Kinomi breathed a sigh of relief. Anywhere was better then being with either Azuke or Nuke. The stone-genin massaged her temples, ever so happy to be away from her monstrous teammates. Since she had entered the caves a little over two hours ago, she had locate the 'Nishi' or 'West' stone.

Glow Stones, she had to find the three more stones.

Looking around, she realized with distain that she was lost and that she was being watched…

"Hello?"

Her voice echoed back to her. Taking a deep breath, she headed for her cavern's only tunnel exit. It was dark and nearly impossible to see, and the cave walls were so far enough apart that she couldn't feel her way along.

It lasted for what felt like hours, the same slow haul that went on and on. Where would the stone she needed to find be? Would she ever find it? It was only then did she really begin to feel so very alone. Her thought went to that of her sisters, eight years long gone. She missed the earthen scent of Uxinta's long chestnut brown hair; Aki's morbid hobby of collecting animal bones; and Natsu's knack for breaking all the rules.

What she wouldn't give to have all that back.

A scream suddenly rocked Kinomi back to her senses as she crashed into someone, the ground suddenly giving out beneath them.

She and the other unknown genin clutched each other in fear as they tumbled down what had to be some sort of ice slide. She could barely hear the sounds of their screams as she banged her head shapely against the icy wall.

"ITAI!" she wailed, her temples throbbing.

Pulling out her stone, its bright light illuminating the icy slopping passage. But the light was bright, signifying that there was another stone.

"Y-you!" the other genin gaspingly stuttered as she turned to look into the other's eyes, the girl holding up the 'Azuma' or 'East' stone.

White-eyes…

"I-its you!"

"Me? What about me?" Kinomi yelped, struggling to stop the movement that was starting to make her sick.

"You're t-the one who's taken m-my Naruto-kun!"

"Hunh? Naruto? What about him? He's like the brother I've never had. Do you like him or something?"

The indigo haired girl with the pale eyes blushed, clapping a hand over her mouth. Kinomi grinned wickedly.

"You soo do!" she laughed loudly, clapping her hands. "Then you have to be the girl he about! You're Hinata right? You fit his descriptions perfectly. Dark hair, white eyes, demure, and you also have the sweetest smile"

"A-ano? He s-said that about me?"

"Yep! I'm Kinomi by the way"

Hinata looked about ready to say something while she leaned back against the tunnel wall, only for it to give way. With a scream, the ashen haired girl fell backward, the indigo haired girl reaching out to catch her hand only to be dragged along. Screaming, the two dropped.

They handed in a slopping passage, one so icy that it acted as a slide, pulling their bodyweight downwards. Clutching each other tightly, their joint screams echoed through the many caverns as the slide cut short, causing them to drop a good ten feet.

The landing was suspiciously soft, causing both Kinomi and Hinata to look down as a pair of groans were issued moments later.

"Naruto!"

"Naruto-kun!"

The two girls leapt off the squashed orange boy, only noticing then that there was another boy, this one dressed in blue, squashed as well. The two boys twitched in pain, their eyes welling up with tears.

"Hinata-chan? Kinomi-aneki? Am I dying?"

Unable to help it, the two girls blushed and giggled.

"N-no silly" the white eyed girl, Hinata, smiled weakly, a pink hue blossoming on her pale cheeks as she dropped to her knees to inspect him.

"Are... you my guardian angel then?" he slurred, his eyes still spinning. "You... look really pretty. Hinata... my sunny place in the sun..."

Hinata's face back a new species of tomato.

The other boy pouted as he struggled to sit up, his eyes spinning. "What am I? Chopped liver?"

Kinomi rolled her eyes. Hey, he was kinda cute! Looking more closely, she noticed that the white haired boy had a tail! Her eyes widened and looked back to Naruto. It was only then that she realized he had cat ears! Not to mention that their eyes were weird!

"What are you?" she gasped in awe, rushing forward with a schoolgirl-like squeal to pet and scratch at the tail and ears.

Doing so caused Hinata to gasp as well, her pale eyes becoming as large as saucers.

"N-N-Naruto-kun? W-why do y-you have ears l-like that?"

Naruto winced, looking at the floor. Noticing the blonde's distress, the tailed boy smiled grimly.

"Yo… I'm Akumu" he waved, and smiled weakly. "I must warn you, there is a really long story behind all this. It all starts with the Nine Legendary Biju Demons; the Ichibi, the Nibi, the Sanbi, the Yonbi, the Gobi, the Rokubi, the Shichibi, the Hachibi and the Kyuubi…"


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven - The Chuunin Exams prt. 3

72 hours to go…

"DIE BITCH!"

Sasuke had to grit his teeth when is eardrums ruptured thanks to Sakura, who was standing next to him, screamed bloody murder and lunched herself yet again that the sumptuous snow-genin. It had been two hours since Risika had cast her personality changing jutsu upon the pink haired girl and now the bane of his existence was back full force.

Sakura looked so livid, so positively irate that her face turned red and her green eyes seemed to speak of the monster within as they positively glow with adverse rage. Her killing intent manifested its own personality for a moment, causing all the other genin that were entering the vast ice caves to flee down the closest tunnels they could find as quickly as they could.

But Risika didn't even bat an eyelash, and it was as if she were looking Death in the in the face and spitting in it's eye. After laughing off Sakura's poor excuse for vengeance and together marched off down an eastern tunnel, dragging Shoushin along with her. And then she was gone, leaving Sasuke all alone with Sakura and his doom.

While his mind was focused on the task of finding Naruto and hoping like hell that the dobe had found their ticket out of this frozen veritable maze of a hellhole. Hours could have passed while he contemplated, following the sounds of Sakura's footfalls. His mind seemed more wrapped up in things had never paid heed to before - like how he found that he was more startling interest in wooing Risika then becoming chuunin. That thought in itself scared him beyond word.

And why not? He had never been in love before…

"Sasuke-kun?"

He was drawn from his lamentations by a tap on his shoulder. All previous bittersweet thoughts were blown away as he found himself staring at none other then Inner Sakura. The warrior-genin flashed him the 'fiercer' version of Sakura's 'aggravated' smile. This wasn't good. When had Sakura summoned her 'evil' inner twin?

"Huh?" he feigning ignorance so that he wouldn't have to bother with whatever the other self of his #1 fangirl wanted.

Bad idea. While Inner Sakura's emotions of love were ten fold that of Sakura's, so was her anger level. Thus allowed for the more wrathful of the two pink haired kunoichi to vent her displeasure by thwacked him upside the head - hard.

"I have been trying to get through to you for five minutes!" she growled. "If you keep zoning out like this and endanger my imoto, then I promise I'll kick you so hard were the sun doesn't shine that you'll forever be regretting the day you were born!"

Sakura let out a horrified gasp, clamping a hand over her mouth in absolute shock; at the same time that Sasuke unconsciously crossed his legs for case of protecting. If he were ever going to revive his clan, then he'd need all his components intact…

"Kura-chan!" Sakura hissed, using the pet name that they had all decided to give her double to save from the awkwardness of calling her Inner Sakura. "Don't be mean to Sasuke-kun!"

Inner Sakura sniffed, obviously miffed. "Gomen Saku-chan, but he dissevered it! He likes that Risika hussy better then us!"

The Uchiha couldn't help but wince when the two girls burst into tears, vehemently declaring that if they got to fight the raven-haired snow-nin during the exams, they'd kick her ass and prove to 'their Sasuke-kun' that they were better choice for feminine prowess and beauty.

They one thing they forgot though, and that was the teeny tiny fact that the sheer color of their hair hurt his eyes.

But it seemed that fate was doing him a favor for the moment he decided to lean against one of the darkened icy walls, the secret door swung open. He let of a yelp as he fell forward.

"Sasuke-kun!" he heard both girls screams as he landed.

He snorted. "Don't go into hysterics. Its only a secret pass - "

His words were suddenly cut off when the ground beneath him seemed to way. He could still hear the girls screaming, but their terrified voices seemed to grow ever more distant as he feel. Reaching into his robes for his wand, Sasuke pulled in out.

"Lumos!"

Light ignited on the tip of his wand and he was shocked to see that he wasn't really falling, but rather sinking! The iron bares of what looked to be dumbwaiter surrender him, the icy walls around him flashing past.

It was really only then that he realized that this downwards spiral had been successful in separating him from Sakura and Inner Sakura.

"Ugh…" he groaned tumbling out of the dumbwaiter as soon as it stopped.

When he collected his bearings, the dark haired boy looked around. Where was he? While the obvious circumstance seemed to be a blessing in disguise, there was nothing that could stop him from getting a very bad feeling about this.

"And here I thought you could protect yourself..."

Looking up, he almost let out a sigh of relief.

"Oh, its only you"

It hadn't been yet a week since he had been given visible-to-the-human-eye form, but Uchiha Obito was just happy that he no longer had to be alone. Having spent twelve years as a ghost, anything was better then nothing.

As it would turn out in the days after Ron had made him visible, the Sandaime would ask him to oversee the redhead and his team in the Chuunin Exams. While still only a chuunin himself, albeit deceased, the ghostly Uchiha had jumped at the chance. Since the Hokage couldn't disclose the origins of the three wizards to any other jounin, trustworthy or not, he had been the likeliest candidate to fill the role since Kaka-teme had to deal with Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura.

But rank didn't really matter. It only mattered that he caught be killed again and that after years of spiritual training, he would be jounin level himself when he was finally brought back to life…

"Aren't you a little young and well… dead?"

He looked up into the dark ruthless eyes of an older woman that was looming over him. She looked to be in her mid thirties with military cropped brown hair with a single thin braid the fell to mid-thigh, a various amount of piercing in her ears, a puckered scar that ran from the corner of her right eye to her mouth, and the addition of carrying a pair of weapons - a tetsubo and a Fuuma Shuriken.

It wasn't that which bothered him, it was the sight of her be not so hidden hitai-ate - Hidden Stone - wrapped around her waist. A stone-nin, possibly one that had fought in the war that had killed him… possibly one of the nin responsible.

He bristled angrily with not so suppressed rage.

"Doesn't matter lady," he hissed. "I was offered the job and I took it. Now leave - you're not welcome in my presence"

She sneered back at him.

"Such a pity with you leaf-nin" she growled. "Don't think I don't know what look means boy - you were killed by one of my comrades during the war weren't you? Too bad you didn't stay more then that"

If he weren't incorporeal, he would have ripped her throat out right then and there. Next to him, Kurenai didn't have that problem, and launched a punch at the woman for his sake. The hit clocked her right in jaw, causing her to backpedal in shock.

Furious, the woman raised her tetsubo and prepared to strike back, but her arm was caught and held back by one of the village Anbu.

"I'd watch yourself if I were you Ikameshii-san" the tori masked nin said coolly. "Should you know restrain that temper I hear that you are so famous for, then we'll just have to escort you out of village - your pupils as well"

Growling, the woman tore her arm out of the man's grip, glared at both Obito and Kurenai for good measure, and then finally stomping off. Seconds later another woman, chuckling to herself happily, approached them. This time the woman had flowing purple hair and the hitai-ate of Hidden Grass around her neck.

"You two sure have guts" she snickered, shooting a glare in the direction the stone jounin had taken. "I've never seen anyone stand up to Ikameshii Kiraihana like you two just did. She's even training wretched Daikyokuzan twins on her team to be just like her - got her head up her own ass that one does!" she smiled. "Amaikusa Mikomi, pleased to meet you"

Kurenai nodded. "Yuuhi Kurenai"

"Uchiha Obito"

Mikomi gazed intently at Obito, a small smile tugging at the corner of her lips.

"It seems that many people these days have been getting a new lease on life - even the dead! I'm sure my student Sora would be thrilled to meet you Uchiha-san - she and her clan catalog all the ancient scrolls and many mysteries too. It does help that they're the last of the hanyou tenshi as well…"

The red-eyed genjutsu specialist's eyes widened. "A tenshi?"

"Yep. My team consists of Enzeru no Sora, scion of the Shinobi Countries' last hanyou tenshi; Tokagero Taiyo, a cursed member of the reptilian tribe of the grasslands; and Sukonku Lulu… umm she a little weird"

"She's that crazy girl with skunky hair, the upside down hitai-ate and the penchant for horrible swearing right?" Obito grimaced, remembering coming across a girl like that not long after having arrived here.

"Bingo" Mikomi grinned. "Even though you're dead, be careful around that one. So what about your teams?"

Kurenai spoke first. "Aburame Shino, Hyuuga Hinata, and Inuzuka Kiba"

The other woman nodded appreciatively.

"Nice - a bug, the Byakugan and a dog. Great for recon I hear. How about you kids?"

Now how was he supposed to describe two wizards and witch that he barely knew? He would just have to fabricate something to keep them safe using their out-of-Konoha aliases.

"Garangeru Herimione, Potteru Hari, and Wesari Ron - they come to us from a village directly outside Konoha" he lied smoothly. "If they come of any clan, their ancestral names have been lost..."

The grass jounin nodded. "Then I shall be very eager to see them in action if they pass this exam - very eager indeed..."

-Within the Ice Caves -

48 hours to go…

"Yo, Azuke. Did you just hear something?"

Doryunami Azuke turned and looked at his twin brother through the miniscule light that was offered to light the passage. Being of proud Earth Country heritage, neither boy knew much about Katon jutsus, preferring to use the customary Doton and maybe a few Suiton.

After twenty-four hours of walking around blind, they finally had had to settle with defeating one of the two Yuki teams and pilfering their torch.

"Hear what?"

Nuke frowned at him, his brows furrowing as he glared at his twin.

"It sounded like a scream"

"So?"

"So maybe whoever screamed might still be alive. Thirteen teams entered these caves, and already made sure that one will not. Who knows how many teams will survive to compete in the third exam, but I'd like to make sure that it's less then half. Besides, we can't do anything until we find Kinomi-baka with our Glow Stones"

Azuke nodded, but he knew they would need to have a plan. While they were both sucked at genjutsu and were equal in the strength when it came to taijutsu and ninjutsu, it seemed that Nuke lacked heavily in the satirical department - he was too much the hands on person.

Together the brothers formulated their plan and then stealthily slunk down the icy corridors. Nuke extinguished the torch and tossed it aside, making his way towards the nearest source of light. Sighing, Azuke followed in behind, sidling up next to his brother as the peeked around the corner.

But what 'graced' their eyes wasn't what they were expecting. The stagnant scent of coagulating blood nearly caused their stomachs to force up that morning's breakfast. The cavern before them was literately awash with blood. The evidence of battle showed on the walls, the thick splotches of burn marks from Raiton jutsus.

The four genin, minus two, that made up the two teams from Hidden Cloud village lay dead upon the ground. The one girl had her throat ripped out while three boys had been burn, slashed and torn beyond repair. And what they had fought still remained within the cavern, feasting on their corpses.

"Great Kami-sama!" Azuke hissed. "They have a bloody Yeti!"

The humanoid beast had thick matted white/gray fur that caked in the blood of its victims. They shivered instinctually as they watched enthralled, horrified as massive cannibal finished its first meal and began to eat the second.

Nuke gagged.

And just as suddenly, the Yeti looked up.

"Chikuso!"

The two boys turned tail as fast as they could, sprinting down the tunnels as fast as they could, the sounds of beast's pursuit close behind.

"You baka!" Azuke screamed. "You had to gag didn't you?"

"Not my fault! That was nasty!" Nuke retaliated, not relishing the thought of become the monster's next meal.

"Of course it was! Otou-sama and Osore-oniisama have been teaching us for years in strengthen our constitutions!"

His brother didn't bother to answer, rather deciding it would be better to up his speed then argue. It was as if they knew they were going to die. The proverbial 'Your life just flashed before your eyes' was so true. Thirteen short years was summed up like lightning.

They remembered the special abilities their twin bond gave to them during infancy; the training they underwent to be worthy scions of the Great Mountain clan; dominating the shinobi potentials at the academy and scoring the title of Co-rookie of the Year; being paired with the insufferable weakling Kinezumi Kinomi and their merciless jounin sensei Ikameshii Kiraihana who was like the older sister they never had; and especially that time their elder brother had dared them to steal some sake from their mother's privet stash…

While they continued to run they're gauntlet of death, they didn't bother to pay much attention to their surrounds until the found themselves bowling over two girls.

"Hey!" the first screamed. "Watch where you're going!"

"Shut up you cow!" Nuke yelled back, throwing her off him.

Azuke snarled and started to run again "Don't waste your brother Tsuin Ani! Let them eaten for all I care!"

The second girl yelped. "What do you mean eaten?"

"Stick around and find out!"

The prospect of getting eaten caused the due to suddenly double their numbers. Not really caring, the twins ignored the screams girls that followed. The flight lasted ten more minutes until they spilled out into a new cavern.

Enraged, the brothers turned to incoming beast.

"Doton: Doryuu Heki no Jutsu!" Nuke shouted, slamming a palm on the frozen ground and the earth rumble. A large was of earth burst free of the ground to block of the entrance into cave, but the Yeti on the other began to hammer on the earth wall, slowly causing cracks to form.

Azuke stepped forward. "Kuchiyose: Daikyokuzan Hogosha!"

Bursting free of the earth in front of the young stone-nin was a 'creature' about the same size as the Yeti, tall golem was comprised of clay, stones and silt. Opening glittering eyes that just so happened to shimmering emeralds, the earth beast charged forward the second the Yeti broke through Nuke's earth wall.

The girls behind them screamed at the sight of the monster, but Azuke and Nuke could only smile grimly as they watched they're summoning tare into the snow beast. As soon as its opponent was dead, the earth golem sunk back into the earth and vanished. Nodding to each other for a job well done, the twins turned to their unwanted companions… and gapped.

The girls standing behind them were also twins - an identical pair with hideous eye burning pink hair, green eyes and large foreheads. They also bore the Konoha hitai-ate.

"Why it is always freaks from Konoha that we have to run into Tsuin Ani?" Nuke sneered.

The fiercer of the two girls stepped forward. "Freaks?" she growled. "Who you calling a freak?"

"You wide-brow"

The girl let out a battle cry and charged forward, engaging Nuke in combat. While the pair fought viscously, Azuke turned his attention to the other girl. The girl didn't look like she could put up much of a fight, her arms like chicken bones whereas her twin was well toned. Comparing the two, he noticed that they weren't as identical as at first glance.

The girl battling his brother was built like a warrior, as lithe and powerful as a cat. She reeked of killing intent and had a look in her eyes that said 'You mess with me and I'll castrate you'. She was rather enthralling…

The girl watching the fight was the exact opposite. She had a delicate physique, as whimsical and wishy-washy as a spring daisy. Fear replaced her sister's anger and although the look her eyes was one of pride, it also contained trepidation. She was pathetic and not worth the waste of chakra to fight.

Yet you could never underestimate your enemies...

"You're going to die ugly!"

"You wanna make a bet?"

And just when he was about to tell Nuke to stop insulting the girl and finish the duel, the fierce kunoichi lashed out and caught his brother by the throat, a kunai burying itself into his stomach. Nuke's eyes bulged and he gagged dangerously, his fight stilled.

"TSUIN ANI!" Azuke found himself screaming, unstrapping his Fuuma Shuriken with a speed he had never possessed before, as threw.

The large spinning star flashed across the cavern, catching the pink haired girl by surprise. She dropped his brother just before it cut into her, ripping through her stomach and chopping her half. The enraged teen would have savored his vengeance, had the girl not then burst into a cloud of chakra, funneling itself into the other girl.

What was she?

But there wasn't time to figure that out because the cave began to shudder, the walls quaking as the prepared to collapse. Azuke managed to gather Nuke into his arms and look up to see that another three genin - a dark haired boy along with two snow-nin; a girl with curl black hair and a boy with green hair - were dragging her backwards.

Furious, Azuke backtracked into the cave he had come from, taking his brother with him. And as he ran, he could only hope that the one medical jutsu that he knew would be enough to help his twin…


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve - The Chuunin Exams prt. 4

(A 'Timeless' Count Down)

- Within the Ice Caves -

48 hours to go…

Enzeru no Sora coughed as she sat up, her body aching as she looked around. How long had she been unconscious for? As her eyes adjusted to the atmosphere, which was oddly bright, she sense the presence of another person nearby and had to stifle a cry of shock when she caught sight of someone else - a boy a year or so younger then herself, his left temple profusely bleeding.

Scrambling to her feet, Sora rushed to his side. Upon investigation, he appeared to be unconscious. Her heart twisted as she took in the severity of his injury. Ever since she had been very small, she had never liked the sight of wounded and sought to heal - even if the one wounded was an enemy. Kneeling next to the boy, she removed a small vile of a silvery liquid from her utility pouch. Uncorking it, she poured a small amount onto his wound.

The wound itself seemed to absorb the liquid, sealing the torn flesh.

"Hey kid, wake up" she whispered as she shook him lightly.

He admitted a groan, and his eyes cracked open a sliver, looking up at her.

"W-what happened?" he asked.

"It was that teleportation jutsu - not a very nice ride apparently. You were hurt and I healed you"

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why did you help me? I mean I am a rival in this exam…"

Sora shrugged. "I don't like to see people in pain that's all. Plus, you don't have the aura of an enemy, so I have nothing to worry about. So you're okay?"

He smiled, rearranging his glasses. "Sure thing! I've survived worse. So… where are we?"

She frowned. Only having just woken up herself and having never been in a place such as this before, she had no clue. Her confusion must have shown because the boy only laughed.

"Don't worry" he bowed his head and held out a hand. "Anyway, my name's Harry"

Nodding, she returned the bow and clasped Harry's hand.

"It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Sora"

Dusting themselves off, Sora and Harry got to their feet and looked around. The cavern they had been dumped off in appeared strangely bright, the walls glittering like jewels. Together the pair wordlessly searched every corner of it, but found no clue as to where the light source was coming from, nor an exit of any kind.

"You don't think they over shot do you?" Harry asked after five minutes, scratching the back of his head.

"I don't think so"

"Hmmm…"

Holding back a chuckle, Sora watched as the raven-haired boy began to pace back and forth, his brows furrowed in deep thought.

"I got it!"

She continued to watch, this time in confusion, as Harry then proceeded to dig into his robes. Seconds later, he withdrew a long polished stick.

"What are you going to do with a stick?" she questioned.

Harry grinned. "This is not a stick, it's a wand. A perfect union of holly wood and phoenix feather"

"Phoenix feather?" she gasped. "But the great phoenixes left this world centuries ago!"

"Nope, there's a few left - my teammates and I actually have one with us here"

"Why?"

"He's giving us protection"

Sora blinked. "Protection?"

The younger boy sighed.

"You seem like a trustworthy person to me. So tell me, how well versed are you in visions and prophecies?"

She really had to laugh now.

"Like the back of my hand!" she cried with exasperation. "The Enzeru clan is known to the Shinobi Countries as the Keepers of Ancient Knowledge. With our temple back in Grass Country, we protect scrolls that date back over a thousand years - back to the Great Shinobi Wars and even Shinobi/Wizard War!"

"And what would say if I told you I was born a wizard?"

She unconsciously backed away.

"Really?"

Harry nodded. "Yes. Can you keep a secret?"

The silver haired teen nodded, removed a kunai from her leg pouch and used it slash her left hand. Clenching her hand into a fist, she holding it out so that blood dripped and she smiled seriously. "The greatest secrets and promises are vowed in blood. Should I break my promise, I have no honor. Please proceed; you've really got me interested now"

"Very well. I was born outside of the Shinobi Countries in the Wizarding World. From what I gather, when the Shinobi/Wizard War came to an end, a multitude of things happened. While the shinobi peoples where able to pick up from where they left off, the wizarding peoples were driven into hiding. The witches and wizards of the world are more separated from other cultures. The Muggles or the people without powers persecuted them as evil, whist that was never and issue with the shinobi, as they have always been seen as protectors"

She took it all in whilst tending to her hand, processing the information to add to the Great Scrolls.

"What about you? You're a wizard and I thought that there was little to no contact between our races, let alone a boy posing as shinobi"

She crossed her arms, her eyes serious and was pleased to see him fidget.

"Well you see I'm actually not posing as a shinobi" Harry replied, pushing his glasses up. "The Sandaime Hokage of Hidden Leaf has been in contact with wizards for a long time. I had only taken one year's worth of studies in kijutsu before my teammates and I were granted the honor of learning the shinobi ways; much like another group of three was given the chance to learn the wizard ways. Through this whole adventure we've recovered one of the missing wizard bloodlines and have found the faults in learning to use dormant our chakra…"

"Faults?" Sora pondered. What kind of faults could there be?

She listened patiently while Harry continued to explain. He told her that the different structures of teaching - how wizard child are only just beginning to learn the arts when most shinobi children are becoming genin. That then moved to how if either the Magical Core or the Chakra System was ignored, you'd start to loose your 'identity' as to which race you belong to. Once he was finished with that, to her insistence he then began to fill her in on the Pureblood Wizarding Wars and the holocaust that is brought about. He spoke of his curse scar, his temporary immortality and two prophecies that plagued him and friends, but that they would bring about a Golden Age.

It was completely amazing, so much of it she had had only found in pieces throughout many scrolls back home. It was only then that she realized that they weren't doing anything that would help their teammates in this exam and finally voiced her thoughts.

"Yes!" Harry laughed. "I almost forgot about that"

He turned away from her and held out his wand. "Point me"

The wand suddenly jerked upwards, causing both wizard and shinobi to look up. What they saw caused them to burst out laughing. First, there was a whole in the above them and second; a bag full of dangling Glow Stones used a giant light bulb!

"It doesn't get easier then that!"

- Within the Ice Caves -

47 hours to go…

Hermione Granger was mad - so mad that she had to wonder if like Sakura, she had her own 'Inner Hermione' dictating the fierce energy she had grown so attached to since last August.

"RONALD WEASLEY! YOU GET YOUR ASS BACK HERE!"

The redhead she was currently chasing dodged the kunai she was launching at him as he ran.

"Sorry 'Mione! But no can do! I like my privet parts to remain attached thank you!"

The bushy haired girl stopped, panting heavily as she glared an assortment of various sharp objects at her freckled friend. He slowed, placing his hands against the cold ice wall as he leaned over to catch his breath.

"You are supposed to be our tactical expert" she hissed. "Did you really have to get those mountain cats angry?"

Ron grinned. "I was looking for some excitement! It's boring since we haven't found Harry yet"

"Excitement! You call rousing a den of flesh-eating felines exciting?"

"Well, they seemed to like you…"

"That's because the Alpha male wanted me as it's mate you idiot!" she shrieked, renewing her chase.

Wisely the red haired wizard ran, only one thought running through his head.

'Damn… why did Dumbledore have to agree to let her become a ninja?'

- Within the Ice Caves -

46 hours to go…

Sora was laughing her ass off.

Harry glared at her "It isn't funny" the raven-haired boy gripped. "Besides, you were one that told me do it!"

It hadn't been as easy as they had thought after all. Severing the rope that held up the bag of Glow Stones had tripped half a dozen booby traps ranging from built in Hyuuton jutsus to exploding tags to spring loaded kunai launchers!

After being frozen, toasted and nearly becoming a pincushion, poor Harry was riddled with more battles scars then in a fight with Hermione. It was at times like these that he wished he could have brought his snake friend Mashita with him, but being a reptile; she would have gone into hibernation.

"Don't you know it's not a good thing to trust the 'enemy nin'?" she snickered. "But come one. You have to admit that it was quite funny to the look on your face when that one ice jutsu stopped that kunai only an inch your face - you looked like you were about to pee your pants!"

"You wouldn't be laughing if it happened to you!"

"Oh, don't be such a baby"

The green eyed boy grumbled. Just what he needed, a girl treating him like a little brother, then again that was better then her tuning into a fan girl because he didn't know if he would be able to stand having another one.

Snatching up the bag, Harry untied the knot and emptied it of its contents. Eight stones dropped out of bag, and shockingly enough, a perfect set of North, South, East, and West for each of them. He wondered if the other teams had found their stones this way, or if they had just found them laying around.

Harry smiled weakly. "Here, this'll pass your team. Now all you got to do is find your teammates," he said, replacing four stones into the bag and tossing it to her, at the same time pocketing his own.

Sora deftly caught it one hand.

"Thanks"

"No problem. If my teammates can cooperate, then I'll have no problem finding them"

"They don't cooperate?" she asked unbelievingly.

"'The only fool bigger then the person who knows it all is the person who argues with him'. That perfectly describes Ron and Hermione. I'm usually the one that puts a stop prospective beatings…"

They were quite for a moment.

"So…" he posed the next question. "How are we going to get out here? Our chakra keep triggering the traps"

"I got just the tine" Sora smiled. "My clan has virtually undetectable chakra. I can get just out of here in a jiff!"

"How?"

"With these!"

Sora turned her back on Harry and removed her yellow coat. The shirt she wore underneath was a white halter-top, revealing her back completely. Before the bespectacled boy could ask what she was going to do, the older genin's hands flashed in a series of seals.

"Tsubasa no Tentou: Shakuhou!"

Harry's mouth literally hit the floor the moment he saw her muscles of her shoulder blades bulge, expanding till a pair of graceful white appendages burst out. Gawking, the young wizard babbled incoherently as he realized those appendages happened to be covered in thousands of downy white feathers.

Wings!

"Good God!" he cried when he found his voice. "You're an angel!"

Sora shot him a winning grin. "I knew you'd like it" she smirked. "The correct term though is hanyou tenshi. My clan is the last of the, as your culture would refer - Nephilim. We are they the descendants of the offspring of angels and mortals" pointed at her wings with childish glee, "These babies are the best!"

"And you're going to carry me?" Harry asked incredulously, looking over the girl's petit figure.

"No sweat!" Sora replied proudly. "I can carry up to a thousand pounds of weight as if it were as light as a one of my feathers - anything heavier is beyond my limit"

Still quite dubious, the younger of the pair let out a yelp as she scooped him up under his arms, and amazingly lifted off the ground. For show, Sora flew around the cavern a couple times and even preformed a loop-da-loop, only ceasing her play when Harry began to gag.

Together the pair flew up through the hole.

To their surprise, they ended up finding themselves before a stairwell of ice that was barred by huge shards of collapsed icicles. Looking around, they found that the place was deserted. Summoning up a quick katon jutsu, the stairwell was free.

"Well then, lets go find our teammates!"

- Within the Ice Caves -

40 hours to go…

"We put up searching thought this damn forsaken maze for this?"

Three genin found themselves standing before a large iron gate that guarded a shaft, within it housing a large elevator. Temari growled dangerously, twirling around her fan as she waited for an answer.

"Were you expecting something grand Temari?" Kankoru replied. "You have no sense of humor do you? Geeze… what a harpy"

"WHAT DID YOU CALL ME?"

"Well… I… umm…"

"You're really going to die this time Kankoru!"

Gaara rolled his eyes sighed. He hadn't had to worry about demonic cravings for blood or such since last September, but listing to his elder siblings banter was almost to make the 'new and improved' sand genin to wish he still had a demon to sic on them.

"Don't you two ever give up? You're giving me a headache worse then Shukaku ever did. Now shut up before I feed you to my sand"

"But Gaara! You don't have to do that anymore!" Temari and Kankoru protested.

"I may not be tormented by a crazy raccoon anymore" he growled. "But if you two keep testing my patience, and I'll do it willingly on my own accord!"

- Within the Ice Caves -

35 hours to go…

"Hey Suki! Look what I found!"

The girl in question, a petit little thing from Takigakure with strawberry blonde hair bound in topknot pigtails looked up, her brown eyes following the sound her teammate's voice.

"Where are you?"

"Over here!"

When she finally caught sight him, and the brightly glowing stone that he was bending over to pick up, she let out a panicked cry.

"Bakushin! Don't touch it or we'll be disqualified!"

But it was too late…

- Within the Ice Caves -

25 hours to go…

Some people might have found it strange to see a pair of girls riding bareback on a large golden fox with nine tails and a large white wolf with five tails. In any event, it was the most exhilarating experience of Hyuuga Hinata and Kinezumi Kinomi's lives.

Although thoroughly exhausted, they could look back on the good work they had accomplished as a team. With Naruto and Akumu's noses, Kinomi's strategies and Hinata's Byukugan, they had successfully gathered a full set of Glow Stones for each of them.

It had also been just over twenty four hours since they two girls had met up with Naruto and Akumu, learning the lengthy tale of about the Biju, Jinchuuriki and what they had gone through with having the Ninetails and the Fivetails sealed inside them.

Hinata had been horrified to find out the truth to way the villagers had always torment her crush. She reassured Naruto right of the bat that it didn't bother her that he had a demon sealed in side him, but rather that it made him a much better person that over three quarters of Konoha if he was still willing to protect them after all he had go through at their hands.

Kinomi on the other hand had been mystified. Her father had told her tale of the Great Biju when she had been really small, his respect the Earth's true children no small thing. Apparently the Hachibi no Hachimata had saved her great grandmother's life while she was pregnant with her great uncle Ryou and bestowed upon the unborn child the gift of Dragons, thus allowing the Kinezumi clan to branch off with a completely new bloodline limit, the other forgone, they becoming known as the Niiroryuu clan.

"So can you smell them?" Kinomi asked uncertainly, scratching behind Akumu's large white ears.

The white wolf turned its mussel to her, its gray eyes clearly say 'Geeze girl! You have no confidence in power of this nose!'

The golden fox next to them yipped, causing Hinata to giggle.

"You aren't b-being mean to Akumu now are Naruto-kun?" she questioned, before adding, "O-one yip yes, two yips no"

The fox yipped twice.

"Good boy"

Kinomi snickered.

"I've never had this much fun before!

"What was fun?"

The two girls gasped, Hinata's eyes widening as she turned to see the boys in question that they were looking for - Kiba, Akamaru and Shino - hobble of darkened tunnel.

"Kiba! Shino!"

Her teammates were bloody, their cloths torn in various places and looking thoroughly exhausted. Kiba and Akamaru's eyes widened at the sight of the two girls atop the two large animals; the dog and its master quivered.

The white-eyed girl smiled. "Don't worry," she giggled, patting Naruto's head affectionately. "It only Naruto-kun and our new friends Akumu and Kinomi"

Kiba stepped forward, looking the wary fox over. "That's Naruto?" he gapped incredulously.

Shino held a hand with one of his Kikkai on it. He turned a bland look at Kiba. "It Naruto. Use your nose"

The dog-boy sniffed cautiously, he his eyes widening. "Kami! It is Naruto!" and after a few seconds added, "But why is he like a fox? With nine tails at that!"

Hinata and Kinomi sighed.

"This going to take a while…"

- Within the Ice Caves -

10 hours to go…

"Lulu…"

"What?"

"You know that not an edible fungus right?"

The skunk haired genin looked up; a florescent blue mushroom paused in midair two inches from her mouth. Lulu frowned slightly, as if debating those words, and then popped it into her mouth where it made a loud juicy crunch against her teeth.

Taiyo gagged. "I'll never understand you…"

"Good!" Lulu grinned viscously, her teeth glowing. "Because I'm the sweetest girl around! And you'd better believe that!"

The reptilian boy sighed. At least she was halfway 'normal' right now…

"Hey hatchling, do I have your permission to eat her yet?" a wily little voice snickered at the back of his mind.

'No Yonbi, my teammates are not for eating. I want to pass this exam you know'

"You're no fun brat" the demon pouted. "Now I remember the times when Biju ruled! I miss those days…"

'Baka Soukou!"

Within the Ice Caves

5 hours to go…

Itazuki no Seishoku yawned as he waited beyond the large gates that guarded the exit out of the ice caves. He smiled mockingly at the genin on the other side – the blonde girl from Suna had made it her duty to yell at him every five minutes.

Having power over the next generation was so much fun. Looking down at his watch, he flashed the girl a sinister grin.

"Only five more hours honey!"

"LET US IN YOU BAKA!"

Seishoku smirked.

"Nope. Only when the seventy two hours have passed and all the genin that have the four Glow Stones needed to pass the exam are here, then I'll let you in"

Temari growled. "I hate you!"

"Mutual honey"

"AND DON'T CALL ME HONEY!"

A woman in blood red and sliver leather body armor passed back and forth, looking down at the cowering chuunin, a one Kuroi Kori, Dai's younger brother, that had come to report to her that the second exam had finished

"So that's all of them? Iwa, Konoha, Kusa, Suna, and Yuki?"

"Y-yes Yokoshima-san…" he whimpered.

"Only seven teams out of thirteen?"

"Y-yes…"

She sighed darkly.

"We are soo getting to lax. I mean wasn't having Seishoku as examiner and having a Yeti in the caves enough?"

Kori blanched.

"N-no…"

The woman flipped her hair over her shoulder as a slow malicious smile began to 'grace' her features. "Well…" she nodded, turning her back on the chunnin as she headed for the doors. "I guess its time for a preliminary round. Oooh I can't wait to see those little punks bleed!"


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen - The Chuunin Exams prt. 5

(The Preliminaries from Hell)

"That was hell…"

Standing on half frozen wobbly feet, Kiba held Akumaru close for body heat. If he had ever wanted a workout in the most extreme of conditions, he had gotten one. Before he and Shino had found Hinata and Naruto down in the ice caves, they had faces all sorts of wild beasts that figured that he and his dog would make a nice snack. Not only that, but they had faced off with the only team from Mist village when the pair had decided they wanted to take out some of the competition.

And finding out that Naruto was the container for the great fox demon that had attacked Konoha the year they all were born just added to his ever-growing headache...

Hermione looked over at him, and for the first time, she had something akin to concern on her face - something that Harry and Ron had been insisting was the really girl behind the mask.

"Are you alright?"

He put aside any sign of weakness andgrinned at her. "Nothing that Akamaru and I couldn't handle! Right boy?"

Akamaru barked happily in agreement.

"Oh, okay then…" she nodded, and turned back to focus her attention on what the Rikkakage saying.

While she was thankfully unaware, Kiba wasn't when he heard the sounds of snickers and little whistles from all round him. His eyes wandered from a perversely grinning Harry, to a comically gagging Ron, to a red faced Naruto who was just barely containing his laughter, and finally to a frowning Sasuke with a single eyebrow inclined.

"Bastards…" he muttered, turning away with his nose in the aironly to find that Hinata and Sakura giggling at him as well.

Six against one - it just wasn't fair!

"Okay genin, I'm going say this only once and I will not repeat myself!"

The gathered genin gasped as a lithe young woman, clad inred and sliver leather body armor that defended her voluptuous figure appeared in a flurry of snowbefore them. Half the male genin population was struggling against nosebleeds from the sight, gapping like fishes at her 'womanly perfection'.

The sound of Risika's hushed voice whispered awe among them. "Yokoshima Yasha - the She-Devil of the Ice! My idol!"

Akumu's was next, his voice filled with warning. "Men, protect your privets!"

The sexy woman burst out laughing, flashing teeth that were all pointed like a predator's.

"You had to warn them didn't you sweetie" she hissed, stopping directly before white-haired genin. "I would've thought you'd have learned you lesson…"

Akumu puffed out his chest bravely.

"You have no power of me you harpy!"

Red painted nails like claws lashed out and dragged him off his feet by his throat. Although choking slightly, the wolf-boy just stared right back at her. Sighing, Yasha flicked her wrist and tossed him full on into Shoushin, causing the two boys to crash to the round.

Naruto couldn't help but snicker. "I think ero-sennin would love her…"

Sakura scoffed. "He likes anything with breasts and that's why the man has more STDs than a Sex-Ed textbook"

Yasha rolled her eyes at those last two comments.

"Brats these day… they don't respect their betters…" clicking her tongue, she turned her attention to everyone else. "Listen and listen well. Since too many of you genin passed the second exam, we'll have to have a preliminary round. As many of you already know, the winners of these preliminaries will be forwarded to the finals in a month's time. As for rules, there are none. If you die you, you die - I don't care, but it'll be nice to see your blood"

The Konoha genin, who had taken the exams last year back home, shuddered. This woman was too much like Anko. Why did there always have to be someone that matched perfectly with the people they knew? It was just too creepy…

"Now if there is any of you worthless vermin that wish the forgo the rest of the tournament, leave now"

As is to answer her question Daikyokuzan Nuke swayed on his feet, his deeply damaged stomach from his fight with Inner Sakura down in the ice caves having taken its toll upon him.

"Tsuin Ani!" Azuke gasped, dropping down next to his twin and proceeded to try and shake him awake. When his brother didn't wake, he felt for a pulse.

Naruto and Kinomi's eyes widened, soon followed by the rest of the genin and those in attendance, as the boy let out a pained howl, one that tore into everyone's hear, and begin to shake. When he looked, up his eyes were red with tears. Standing erect, he withdrew a kunai and slashed his palm, holding it out as he glared at Sakura.

"You killed my brother skank" he hissed murderously, the more controlled of the twins having completely forgone all this years of self-discipline. "I vow on my honor, my soul, and the life that you took, whomever I fight, wither it be you or not, shall not survive my wrath"

Everyone watched in silence as the medic-nin had carried away the lifeless body of the dead stone-nin. As soon as they were out of sight, the remaining genin somberly gave their names to the examiner. Without word, they and their senseis gathered in the coliseum bleachers. Surprisingly enough, all the genin but the grieving Azuke had grouped together.

Yasha smiled viscously as those who were gathered from her spot down in the arena. All eyes were then turned to the far end of the coliseum were a large scoreboard that looked like a sheet of ice and waited.

It didn't take long for the two names to appear, but whom those names belonged to was enough to take the audience by surprise.

Sabaku no Gaara vs. Sabaku no Kankoru

There were many gasps, since that alone was shocking enough. The two sons of the Kazekage glanced briefly at each other before rolling their eyes and entering the area below. The fight itself was rather uneventful, since everyone knew that Gaara was going win. Using what remained of Shukaku, the red haired sand-nin lashed out with sand, attacking Kankoru and his puppet.

Ron sighed, looking over at Harry with a knowing look. "There's way Kankoru is going to win. For as skilled at that 'makeup' wearing puppet-user is, there is just no way he'll beat Gaara's sand, and he knows it"

Sakura frowned.

"Who do you know that?"

"Our first missing was in Suna. It didn't last long which sucked, but that how we got to meet them. I'm the one that killed Gaara's demon after all…"

No more was said after that, instead the group retuning to the task of watching the fight. Since the younger brother had the better offence and defense, it wasn't a surprise when he won two minutes later, content with his easy win. Once again, all eyes returned to the scoreboard to see the names of the next two contestants.

Aburame Shino vs. Sukonku Lulu

"THAT'S NOT MY NAME DAMMIT!"

Team Eight visibly winced for the sake of the bug-using teammate. Like always, Shino showed no emotion as he made is way down into the arena to face off against the very twitching grass-nin. Facing each other, the pair remained deathly quite until the examiner started the fight.

It was Lulu of course who charged first, her erratic movements hard to see as she streaked towards her opponent. Shino deflected her attack calmly, not bothering to say a word as he unleashed his bugs upon her. She shrieked, terrified by the appearance of the Kikai.

"Yuudoku Chakura Shingai!"

The ground beneath their feet suddenly rumbled as waves of toxic gas billowed up from fissures. What ever there was in this gas, there was nothing that stop the attacking Kikkai to die instantly, not to mention making Shino queasy from the poisonous vapors. As for Lulu, she was unaffected due to the small fact that her clan was very proficient with poison jutsus.

From up in the bleachers, Kiba was shouting all sorts of cheers for his teammate, ones such as not to be beaten by such a bizarre girl. If Shino ignored the comments, it didn't show on his ever-stoic face as he attacked this time with his own collection of tai, gen and ninjutsu.

Each one deflected.

Stopping for a moment, the bug-genin looked at the older girl curiously. "What's wrong with you?"

Lulu backed away, completely shocked and affronted.

"It's a mental disability, starts with a 'T' - Arg! Can't remember!" she growled, squeezing her eyes shut and banging her head with her fists. "You got a problem with that, Bug-boy?"

"No"

"You'd better not!"

"I don't"

"Well why not? Is it because I fat?"

The fighting returned with renewed vigor, only this time it was the tri-haired genin taking the hits, swearing up a storm all the while. There was the barest hint of support from her teammates, or rather Sora, since Taiyo too was busy mocking her. Panting like a crazed bunny on a leash, various wounds doting her body, Lulu shuddered violently and heroff-kilter expression suddenly broke into a sinister grin.

"Well little boy, lets have some fun!" tri-haired girl purred, her consonance having completely changed.

Before Shino could detect an attack, Lulu had already lashed out with a jutsu known as Inbijiburu Waiya - the Invisible Wires - netting him into her trap. Baring her teeth, the girl strode towards him.

Sora shuddered. "Of Kami-sama… that boy has unleashed Lulu Shi"

"Lulu Shi?" Kiba, who was sitting not to faraway, asked in confusion. "What do you mean?"

The hanyou tenshi winced.

"While Lulu is normally borderline schizophrenic, sometimes she can be driven over the edge. Rumor has it that her parents forced her to try mastering her bloodline limit out in the open during a lighting storm. Long story short; Lulu was stuck by a bolt of lighting that caused her personally to fracture five ways. The Lulu that entered the arena was Lulu Sho, but I've never before seen an incident in which Lulu Ni and Lulu San have been by passed - Lulu Shi happens to be the most maniacal and extreme of the Lulu Five. He doesn't have a chance now…"

"What about Lulu Go?"

"You don't want to know"

Hinata paled. "W-what's her b-bloodline limit then?"

It was Taiyo that answered.

"The Akagane Ayatsuri"

Back in the arena, Lulu Shi grinned. Her hands came together, flashing though a series of complex hand seals.

"Hijutsu: Akagane Subeta!"

And hidden from within her clothing, long streams of brown began to ooze out; snaking up her right arm to created a sword of pure copper grafted to it.

"Kawarimi!" Shino shouted, vanishing just in time for the copper sword to pierce viscously into the ice block that replaced him.

She struck again only to this time cutting in half a Kikkai Bunshin. Twisting, the young genin was able to send her flying across to crash into wall protecting the lower bleachers. Looking up, sinister green eyed become steely as their owner licked away blood from a split lip.

"Why are you doing this?"

Lulu Shi hissed, completely ignoring his question. "You won't get away from me that easily Leaf-genin. I will see you bleed!" She dropped into an unfamiliar stance; her sword raised in one hand and her other hand forming seals.

"Hijutsu: Akagane no Yaiba!"

"Lulu Shi, no! Don't us it! You'll kill him!"

But no she heed was paid, her head arching backwards as all over her body little tiny flecks of copper seemed to blow off her like fairy dust. It spiraled up in a mini hurricane around her before dispersing to cover the whole arena

"Kuso…"

Unable to defect this attack, Shino held his breath as thousand of tiny little cuts began to appear all over him. Not satisfied with just that, Lulu Shi repaired in front of the boy and punched him mercilessly in the stomach, causing his to gasp for breath. The moment he gasped, a flood of the tiny particles were draw into his lungs, causing him to suddenly cough, hacking up blood.

He collapsed, chocking.

"Lets not be that - "

The girl was suddenly cut off as she was elbowed to the head. She stumbled back, restrained from behind as she saw Sora rush forward with a vile in her hands.

Sora glared at her, pulling back Shino's head and forcing him to drink the strange liquid. "You've won! Be happy with that!" the boy in her arms went limp, his coughing ceasing.

"Winner, Sukonku Lulu!"

"THAT'S NOT MY NAME DIMMIT!"

Lulu blinked, brushing a now confused Taiyo off over her, his eyes having changed to rings of malisious yellow and green,his hands having transformed into knarled menacing claws. She frowned,looking around at the frightened faces up in the bleachers staring down her. "Hunh? What's going on? Didn't the battle just start?"

Lulu Sho was back.

The next and third match was Garageru Herimione vs. Tokagero Taiyo. While Hermione had become well known as the sword wielding, wind-using member of Team Seven ½, the grass-genin was still an unknown factor

Using Amaiko in conjunction with Fuuton: Taizen Ken no Minato, she had attacked only have the older vanish into thin air. It was rare when she would catch of shimmer of distorted light, but was too late to strike. The slipper grass-nin counterattacked using his bloodline limit, as from Sora everyone would discover that while she was hanyou tenshi, Taiyo's clan had centuries injected themselves with the venom of a mythical lizard and gained its powers.

His Hijutsu: Yoroi Hakari - Armored Scales, made Hermione's attacks ineffective. Sheathing her sakubato, the bushy haired witch decided to take a different approach.

"I'm not going down that easily lizard-boy!" she taunted, stepping backwards out of range and began to change.

From the bleachers, Hinata gasped. "What's happening?"

Beside her, Naruto snickered. "Not much. Hermione, like Harry, Ron, Sakura and Sasuke can change into animals - not at all like a henge. I'll see if I can procure the potion for you if I ever get the chance - but lets watch, this is going to be cool!"

"Wait, look at the lizard-guy!"

The pair turned and looked at Taiyo. They saw his eyes, his fangs, his claws, and even what looked theshadow of four ghostly wings behind him.

"Another Jinchuuriki!"

"Four wings? He's vessel for the Yonbi!"

"Kuso! His blood will be poisonous! Hermione! Be careful!"

Back in the arena, Hermione had completed her transformation into a ferocious, well-muscled puma. The mighty brindle furred cat reared back on its hind legs and launched itself at the wide-eyed grass-nin. Raze sharp fangs punctured unprotected flesh, drawing blood.

But Taiyo just smirked, completelyunconcerned.

"Don't you know," he laughed as soon as the large cat removed its fangs from his arm. "That you should never 'eat' anything that's brightly colored?"

He turned, flashing the florescent colored clan symbol on the back of his coat.

"More times then not, it means they're poisonous"

The cat shuddered, turning slowly back into Hermione. The bushy haired girl promptly collapsed, her eyes clouding over. The green haired genin smiled grimly, before reaching into his coat and withdrawing a vile.

"It'll only take twenty minutes for the poisons in my blood to kill you. The substance in this vile is the only known cure - if you want to save your life, forfeit"

Hermione nodded weakly.

"I give up"

Taiyo smiled as genuine smile. "Good choice" he tossed her the vile. "Drink up"

"Winner, Tokagero Taiyo!"

The fourth match was Inuzuka Kiba vs. Kinezumi Kinomi. With much cheering on behalf of the tree-genin, was enough to convince the girl to go fight. She frowned though, the moment she caught sight of Akamaru.

"I hate dogs - no offence to you Akumu-kun!" she looked down as the puppy. "He isn't going to pee on is he?"

Kiba raised an eyebrow. "Why would Akamaru want to do that?"

"I dunno" she whined. "All dogs seem to like to do that - it's a curse!"

After that was said, the pair finally engaged in combat. Kiba was quick to start using the Inuzuka clan techniques that he had on Naruto during the preliminaries last year and more including the Tsuuga - Piercing Fang; the Gatsuuga - Dual Piercing Fang; the Garouga - Double Wolf Fang; the Gijyuu Ninpou: Shikyaku - Beast Mimicry Ninja Technique: Four Legs; and the Inuzuka Ryuu Jinjuu Henge: Suture - Human-Creature Combination Transformation: Double-Headed Wolf.

Yet Kinomi fought back with her own masterful prowess.

The first of Kinezumi clan techniques that she used was the Yoroi no Suppai Bara - Armor of Acid Thorns. A thick coat of spiky thorns burst from her flesh, each one of them oozing with burning acids. She then moved on to the Keikyoku Sashiki Yaiba - Thorn Slashing Blade. That in itself turned out to be a long whip covered with yet more thorns. The fight was concluded with a merger of two jutsus the Megami no Ueki - Goddess of Trees, and the Iwawakarusa - Stone Warrior.

So it was save to say that Kiba and Akumaru had their asses whooped and handed back to them by a girl that had transformed into a stone maiden dressed in bark dress with leaves for hair. "You'd be better off in Konoha with those powers..."

She smiled, and just before finishing off with the KO blow, she whispered into his ear."I know. Becoming missing-nin runs in family"

He didn't see it coming.

The fifth match just so happened to be Sabaku no Temari vs. Tsukiaoi Akumu. The fan-user from Sunagakure was completely outranked when the gentlemanly Jinchuuriki showed just how dastardly some of his attacks could be.

"Incoming!" Akumu shouted. "Let see who you handle an ookami!"

"Hunh?" Temari gapped, holding her battle fan at the ready.

But the wolf-boy didn't bother to answer because he was suddenly changing. The older sand-nin's eyes widened as Akumu's face tapered into a long fanged mussel. He shrank, brilliant white fur covering his body like a carpet and his single white tail separating into five.

"Chikuso…" she whispered. "How many demon vessels do I have meet in my lifetime?"

Truth be told, it freaked out all the jounin and officials, while Gaara and the rest of the genin watched in awe. Using the natural white snow camouflage to allow him zip quickly in an out of range without being seen had helped splendidly.

Not knowing what to do, the blonde girl lashed out.

"Ninpou: Kamaitachi!"

The vicious flurry of wind that slashed forth made the large wolf jump, but not before having his left flank slashed. Growling, the horse-sized artic wolf vanished in a plum of feather snow to reappear behind the older girl and pounce.

Pinned to ground by a pair of huge paws, Temari couldn't move. "I-I… give up! Just… g-get off me!" she chocked, unable to breath properly.

Winner, Tsukiaoi Akumu!"

Turning back to his human form, Akumu grinned and offered her a hand.

"Thanks! That was fun!"

He just had no clue that things were only going to get harder for his friends in the matches to come…


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen - The Chuunin Exams prt 6

(Survival of the Fittest)

"I said I was sorry! I didn't mean for that to happen - I couldn't see you dammit!"

Harry and Shoushin, albeit the latter of the pair hobbling, walked together back up into the bleacher, the genin with the light green hair whimpering unbelievingly.

The sixth match of Potteru Hari vs. Nadare Shoushin had gone off as if it had been beautifully choreographed. The mute stealth-nin brought down his ultra-powerful Hyuuton: Aisu Nadare crashing down upon the unexpecting green-eyed wizard. Harry blasted his way out of that one with a weak Katon: Karyuu Endan, seeing as he was particularly adept with both fire and lightning jutsus, and then focused on attacking Shoushin with his Raiton: Raiu.

Frozen and electrocuted, the two boys turned to a mix of taijutsu and genjutsu. The snow-nin managed to achieve damage when he knocked Harry back with a Senpuu no Kori. While the bespectacled boy had been regaining his bearings, Shoushin had sneakily uncovered his favorite jutsus - an ultra-powerful genjutsu known as Kyohaku no Fuyu Naito - it even had Kurenai jealous!

While Harry was lost in what was to him, a large dark void with only a very bright star above him, Shoushin prepared to take him out. Unfortunate for him, the other boy quickly produced a Tai Bunshin and attacked, accidentally kicking the poor snow-nin in a very sensitive spot.

Crying soundless out in pain, Shoushin crumpled to the ground.

While Harry was being announced winner, he was too busy profusely apologizing to the now 'crippled' boy

"Enough chatter!" Risika snapped. "The contestants of the seventh match are about to be announced!"

Hara no Risika vs. Haruno Sakura

"HELL YEAH!"

Both Risika and Sakura grinned viciously at each other, their eyes alight with little fires and little devil superimposed on their heads.

"You're going down Hussy!" Sakura shouted, sprinting down the bleachers to the arena below.

"In your dream Pinky!" Risika retaliated, vanishing from her seat and reappearing in the arena seconds before Sakura, causing the pink haired kunoichi to become livid.

Akumu and Shoushin cast pitying gazes at Naruto and Sasuke.

"How had you stand that?" the wolf-boy asked shivering.

Shoushin nodded. - That girl is almost as bad a Risika, and that's saying something! -

The two leaf-genin just shock their heads.

"Just wait and see - it gets worse…"

And Risika and Sakura's battle had just begun.

"Omoi no Kodate!"

Sakura slammed full force into an invisible wall, bouncing off like a rubber ball. She was thrown into a back flip and landed very ungracefully on her rump. The pink hair girl growled, angry that Risika had gotten the one up one her - twice!

"Two can play at that game! Literately!" she sneered "Get ready to meet the weapon that only one woman in my clan only every four generations can wield - Naimenteki Tsuin Shakuhou!"

All those in the arena that had never seen Inner Sakura before gasped. Risika's lip curled.

"No wonder you had such a screwed up mind" she jibed. "Your just as bad as that Lulu freak!"

Inner Sakura raged, but was caught of guard as Azuke suddenly yelled down from the crowd.

"That one's made of pure chakra! Kill her once and she keeps coming back!" he yelled. "Take out the weakling and you'll win - steroid-pumped cherry can't remain without her!"

While both pink haired girls were distracted - glaring kunai at the stone-nin; Risika smirked evilly and took the advantage to engage Sakura as suggested.

"Ninpou: Meimu Sumiyaka no Jutsu!"

Sakura gasped as what appeared to be another form of Naruto's Shunshin. Twenty Risika's appeared around her and Inner Sakura. The curly raven-haired snow-nin appeared before his, but she had her legs knocked out from under her at the exact same time that she punched only to meet air.

Inner Sakura was pissed.

"You leave Saku alone!"

Risika stuck her tongue out. "Too bad. This is the Chuunin Exams, or did you not know that?"

"Why you! I guess you asked for it - Suiton: Suiryuudan no Jutsu!"

"Itsuru no Jutsu!"

The water dragon suddenly turned to solid ice, shattering upon the ground was gravity overcame it.

"You are outranked little girl"

"How dare you!"

The raven-haired girl shrugged. "I dare as I like - it come with the package. But I guess… since you won't behave… I'll have to end this all now…"

Everyone hear the mirth in Risika's voice. Sensing her killing intent, Inner Sakura stood before Sakura like a protective shield.

"Kura! Let me fight her! Its my match!" Sakura snapped.

Inner Sakura only frowned over her shoulder. "She'll kill you and then where will we be?"

Meanwhile, up in the stands, Akumu and Shoushin were staring down at they're third teammate in shock.

"You can't possibly be thinking of using that jutsu!" Akumu cried, causing Risika to look up at him. "You'll drive her mad!"

Gold eyes glittered sinisterly. "So?"

At the same moment, Inner Sakura charged.

"Hijutsu: Kokoro Waikyoku!"

The attack hit Inner Sakura full on, but the sound of twin screams of agony filled the coliseum. Inner Sakura burst into a thousand little fragments of light, whereas Sakura eyes, ears, nose and mouth suddenly began to bleed.

What shocked everyone, especially the Rikkakage and her two teammates, was the strange look of concern that was now on her face. They watched with bated breath as she slowly over to the trashing girl and took her head gently into her hands.

Without a word to the shocked audience, she placed the index and middle fingers of both hands on either side of the pink haired girl's eyes, the other fingers splayed. For a moment nothing happened, but then her golden eyes flashed, Sakura's to do the same.

"Hijutsu: Shuuzen!"

What came next was spectacular. A white light blazed out from the mind-genin's eyes, connecting with the now stilled leaf-nin. For those that knew, it was clear to see that Risika had placed her own consciousness into Sakura's mind, healing the damage that she had just wrought. When she let go of her head, she looked up at her with shocked confusion in her turquoise eyes. Risika smiled slightly, but then stuck her to the back of the head the next, allowing her to collapse into unconscious.

"Winner, Hara no Risika!"

Uchiha Sasuke vs. Daikyokuzan Azuke

Had both Sakuras been awake for this, she would have screamed - far worse then when she was having her mind 'ripped apart'.

Sasuke glowered at the black and white haired stone-nin, and was met with one that was far steelier. He could see that the Doryunami boy was gritting his teeth, fingering his newly acquired Fuuma Shuriken, looking as if try to fight back any and all emotions. With the death of his twin, Azuke had become a mass of rage and hate, a hallow shell since half of his soul died along with his brother.

Wordlessly the two boys entered the arena.

On one hand, Sasuke was itching to prove himself. The young Uchiha cared not about the risks as he activated his Sharingan, but rather that his opponent just so happened to be from the head shinobi clan of Iwagakure. On the other, that also caused for him not to take in account that Azuke would be more then happy to slaughter him like a pig for the sake of attaining his revenge (it also helped that he knew his twin brother's killer was madly in love with the stoic ass).

"Katon: Tsume no Kasairyuu no Jutsu!"

Azuke's muddy brown eyes narrowed he watched a pair of large clawed hands like that of a dragon's shot towards him. "Doton: Doryuu Heki!"

A wall of earth burst up to shield him, extinguishing the fire. Protected for a few seconds, the stone-genin completed a few seals and slammed a palm upon the ground.

"Doton: Jishin no Jutsu!"

The ground under Sasuke feet began to rumble, jarring and jerking and breaking so that he was thrown to onto his back. Quickly withdrawing a three kunai, he whipped them at the other boy. But the boy had simply vanished, leaving everyone to wonder where the boy had gone.

Gripping a kunai close, the young Uchiha braced himself for an impact. Seconds later the ground beneath Sasuke's feet shattered, revealing his opponent. But unlike what Doton: Shinjuu Zanshu was typically used for, Azuke didn't try to pull Sasuke under. Instead the young stone-nin caught a hold of his target and the power of the blast that had shot him out of ground carried the two boys up into the air.

"Having any fun yet?" he asked, his voice nothing more then a breathless hiss.

Sasuke didn't bother to answer, but rather kicked at the boy whom held him. Azuke only smirked. The red-eyed boy's in-the-air roundhouse kick caught the other genin in the temple. Seconds later, he exploded.

"What the hell?"

The dark haired boy landed, covered in thick blinding mud.

"My, my… I cannot believe that a simple mud clone tricked the last of the mighty Uchiha. You're dumber then I expected"

Sasuke growled. Ready to defend his pride, he jumped to his feet - only to be pulled back to the ground with a painful thump.

"You must be better then that" Azuke sneered. "My twin's life means more then that. My clone was only the first part of my attack. It was combined with a simple but power mud trap jutsu; I have affectively restrained you to the ground. Now tell me Uchiha, since your hands are stuck, who are you going to attack back?"

He didn't answer. The other boy had solid point. There was no way for the red eyed of the pair to escape this jutsu unless he knew a jutsu that didn't require hands. Everyone else in the arena new that as well. How was Sasuke going to get out of this one alive when his opponent was determined not to see leave alive?

But it wasn't like those statistics were about to stop him.

"Expect the unexpected" he sneered back and to everyone's shock, an invisible force threw the other boy back, causing him to make an indent into the opposite wall. And whatever the power the Uchiha heir had used, the sticky mud that once covered him was boiling into dust.

Up in the stands, his friends smiled. Wandless magic.

Azuke looked up and spat out a mouth full of blood. "Now that's more like it!" he hissed. As he returned to his feet, his eyelids began to flutter. Creating a few hand seals, another giant throwing star appeared. With a grim smile, the salt and pepper haired teen placed both weapons on his arms. "Let's dance!"

Lunching his whole body forward, Azuke executed what had to be the most brilliant choreographed weapons dance that any of the spectators had ever seen. Having to use his Sharingan to predict the other boy's movements, Sasuke matched up, but unfortunately wasn't able to check all the blows.

The two giant shuriken cut into his arms, making his own rage limit rise. He wasn't about to be defeated by some overconfident bastard.

"Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!"

With the stone-nin's close range, Sasuke was able to blow the jet of fire right into his opponent's face.

"Ahhhhh! Kisama!" Azuke screamed, ceasing his relentless attack. When he looked up, everyone in the stands, Kinomi especially, gasped at the sight. Half of the vicious boy's face was burnt red - third degree on at least 49. Even Sasuke's eyes widened as he took in the hideous mess that he had created. While he felt no remorse at all for the other boy, he knew that injury had to hurt.

And then he watched as the last shred of humanity left his opponent. It was going to be a fight to the death now.

"Suiton: Mizu Katana no Jutsu!"

The real Azuke lashed out at him with a long sword made entirely of water. Dodging the slashes that came and getting away with a few deep cuts, Sasuke remembered that he had the perfect jutsu to combat this. Using the one Raiton jutsu that Harry had ever let him copy (aside from the other jutsus he had 'stolen' and gotten the beats for later) and unleashed the Raiton: Raiu.

The sky above boomed loudly, and suddenly ten thread like bolts of lightning burst free of his fingertips. Azuke had been in the middle of charging, his intent to kill the water blade was just within inches of Sasuke's, he gasped in shock as the pure electricity connected with his water sword. He screamed out in pain, his hair rising to stand on end and eyes fluttering weakly.

When the jutsu was released, the salt & pepper haired boy crumpled to the ground. He sat on his knees, his head bowed as he wheezed, his hand burnt beyond repair. Lifting his head, he looked up into Sasuke's abyss-like eyes.

"Do it…"

"Do what?" Sasuke asked, an eyebrow inclining in puzzlement. "Aren't you going to get up and fight? I know you want revenge, so why not try to take it.

Azuke laughed bitterly, baring his teeth. "You just paralyzed me from the neck down with that jutsu. You have any honor; you'll know what to do. Paraplegics can't be a shinobi - let me be with my Tsuin Ani again"

Up in the bleachers, Kinomi gasped, a hand going up to cover her mouth. Although she had hated both Azuke and Nuke for the longest time since they had so unmercifully tormented her during their academy days and then as genin, the thought of them dead horrified her. Nuke was gone, and she could feel something in heart that must if been remorse - after all, he had been her teammate.

She gulped as she watched Sasuke, the dark-haired boy with the red Sharingan eyes stair emotionlessly down her only remaining teammate. If her complied, both her teammates would be dead. And she knew that Azuke would die not matter what. He would find a way to join Nuke because since the day they were born, if one did something, the other followed…

"No"

"NANI?"

"What's the point of living if you give it all up?" Sasuke asked, crossing his arms. "You talk about honoring your twin, then live for him since he wasn't able to live for you" and with that he turned and let the immobile boy fume with his uselessness.

"Winner, Uchiha Sasuke!"

And unheard by the young Uchiha or rest of the audience, Azuke growled, right fist clenching as he spoke his near silent vow.

"Very well Uchiha. You may have taken away my ability to be shinobi, but you haven't taken away my ability to hurt your friends. You and the pink haired one will regret for ever having messed with me…"

Enzeru no Sora vs. Namikaze Naruto

"Hunh?" Kiba yelped. "Since when had that been your last name Uzumaki?"

The dog-genin looked over at the blonde to find his grinning wildly.

"Since birth mutt!"

"Then why haven't you always used it until now?"

Wrinkling his nose at the other boy's complaints, Naruto just laughed. "'Cause the Sandaime figured I would be better protected from assassins if they didn't know who I was"

He didn't stick around and raced down the steps to being his fight

"Assassins?" Kiba yelled after him. "Who'd want to kill a clanless dead-last like you?"

To everyone's Hinata bopped Kiba over the head, acting completely out of character from the shy girl she normally was. "How d-dare you Kiba!" she admonished "D-don't you see that Naruto-kun h-has a clan? His n-name is Namikaze Naruto after all"

The dog-boy, wincing as he rubbed his head, thought for a moment.

"Wait a minute… wasn't that the Fourth Hokage's clan name?"

All his friends plus Akumu looked at him with deadpanned expressions and let out groans of exasperation.

"Of course you baka - Naruto is his son"

At the same moment that Kiba's jaw went slack, he gapped for a moment and then passed out from shock; Naruto was standing opposite from Sora down in the area. He was gauging the hanyou tenshi thoughtfully.

Sora shocked him with a smile and a bow. "May the worthy reign victorious"

Still reeling, he returned the gesturer.

"Ditto"

As soon as the examiner shouted for them to begin, Sora jumped backwards.

"Tsubasa no Tentou: Shakuhou!"

As soon as the seals were completed, her snow-white wings burst free from her back. The massive wingspan clenched powerfully, lifting the older girl five feet into the air.

Naruto grinned up at her. "Nice wings - Kage Bunshin!"

Three clones appeared next to him, each with a foxy smirk on his whiskered face.

"Come and get us!" they coursed.

"Alight - you asked for it!"

Sora dove. "Tsubasa no Kyouran!" the sliver haired girl yelled, twisting sharply the air and struck one of the clones, causing into poof on contact.

"Oh I like her!" Kyuubi snicker. "Such an honor"

'You know that had nothing to do with you'

"Should I care?"

The blonde ignored his demon as the two remaining shadow clones dodged Sora's coordinated attacks, tossing kunai mixed with Kunai Kage Bunshin at her while blocking the hits that were just as strong as any punch. Another clone vanished, while Naruto and the last clone leapt out of range of her wings.

"Hey Sora-san! I'd be careful if I were you. I have a few tricks up my sleeves that could bring you down to earth fast!"

The hanyou tenshi's face deadpanned.

"You don't even have any sleeves…"

Naruto looked down, only then remembering that he no longer had his much beloved jumpsuit, but rather the new outfit that Sakura and Inner Sakura had forced him to ware.

"It's a metaphor dammit!"

"Oooh! Big words kiddo!"

Now thoroughly enraged, Naruto's whiskered face broke out into a wicked vulpine grin.

"You asked for it then. Kizu Tori Tsubasa no Jutsu!"

Sora yelped as she watched what looked to be giant spiral engulf her, Naruto's jutsu causing her wings to be forced back into dormancy. The silver haired girl dropped six feet to be caught by her younger blonde haired opponent.

Holding a kunai to her throat, he smiled.

"Good match Sora-san!"

She nodded. "Very much so, Naruto. Good match"

"Winner, Namikaze Naruto!"

Hinata took a deep breath and looked over at Ron - it would be their fight next. As soon the examiner declared Naruto the winner, both watched as the scoreboard flashed out pairs the last time for the day.

Hyuuga Hinata vs. Wesari Ron

"Hmmm…" Harry thought. "We get to see a battle of doujutsus!"

Kinomi looked at him. "What bloodlines?"

"The Byakugan - the All-seeing Evil Eye vs. The Seireimegan - The Spirits Eyes"

Sora, whom had just filled Ron's vacant sport, gasped. "THE SPIRIT EYES!" she shouted, before hissing into Harry's ear, "Great Kami-sama - you didn't tell me that your friend possessed the Spirit Eyes! He certainly comes from a ancient wizarding clan"

"Yep. It's still unestablished, but Ron has the suspicion that I have bloodline powers too, maybe even Hermione…"

Down it the arena, Hinata and Ron faced each other. As soon as the match officially began, they both attired their eye abilities. The Byakugan blazed, causing Hinata's pale white eyes to glow and the blood veins to bulge. The Seireimegan flashed, causing Ron's large blue eyes to become blacker then the deepest chasm.

The Hyuuga Heiress wasted no time in assuming her clan's Jyukken style, while the redhead wizard assumed the Tora Tsume. Together, it became a dance, each using their eyes to give way hints. All the while, Ron was busy focusing on the simple detail that would decide who won this battle.

He didn't need his Seireimegan to peek into her soul to know that Hinata had an enormous crush on Naruto. He could see that she was determined to beat him no matter what it took to get the loud boy to notice her. Also while he knew that his blonde friend had the densest skull on the planet, Naruto liked her too - what ever had happened between them down in the Ice Caves of Doom had only succeeded in making it stronger.

She didn't need any fight to make him notice her.

But from he could see in Hinata's heart was enough to sacrifice his chance to become chuunin so that she could achieve what she so desperately wanted. Though that wasn't to say he wasn't going make this fight easy…

"Katon: Nenshou Teikiatsu no Jutsu!"

The red haired wizard smirked. How long he waited for this jutsu to work! A small fire that hand started on the ground began to spin, become larger and faster with every turn. Within ten seconds, it was enough to get Hinata's eyes to widen - and who wouldn't? It was now a seven-foot high, three-foot wide fire tornado after all!

She dodged, but the fire tornado followed - it was a heat seeker! Gasping is it singed her hair; the indigo haired girl doused it with a Suiton: Daibakafu. Ron smiled approvingly, only the slightest bit disappointed that she had so easily defeated his toughest Katon jutsu.

"Hari Genkaku!" Hinata shouted, leaping away from her opponent.

Ron had to suppress the urge to gag. The genjutsu she had just used on him had caused the world in his vision to turn into a giant kaleidoscope. He stumbled, backwards into a trap she had just set up. Sensing a wave of kunai and shuriken coming at him, he used Kawarimi, but not before slapping an exploding tag to the ice block that replaced him.

The projectiles covered it like a pincushion only to be shattered to tiny shards by the explosion. The explosion itself then sent the kunai and shuriken back towards their owner who then managed to dodge and block them.

While he was distracted with dispelling his indigo haired friend's illusion, Hinata took the chance to hit him hard to the chest and send him crashing.

"You're within my field of hakke," she announced, calmly stepping forward and not a syllable stuttered. "Hakkeshou: Rokujuu Yonshou!"

And she pounced

"Two hands!"

Ron was pleased enough that she had gotten the jump on this that he could barely feel that pain of having his tenketus point closed - and like it really mattered. If he was daring enough to let a group of shinobi see that he was a wizard, he he'd just use magic on her.

"Four hands!"

"Eight hands!"

"Sixteen hands!"

"Thirty-two hands!"

"Sixty-four hands!"

The redhead boy collapsed, panting. The world was really spinning right now…

"Way to go Hinata" he smiled weakly. "Good job indeed!"

And then promptly fainted.

"Winner, Hyuuga Hinata!"

By the end of the preliminaries, each winner, exhausted or bloody, withdrew a small numbered ruin stone from a small velvet bag that was being passed around. Yasha smirked once she sure that each genin had a stone. The poor brats… this day was worth seeing and would go down as one of her favorite memories.

"Okay brats! What are your numbers?"

She focused on them alphabetically, getting each kid to call out their numbers. Before she could call Risika's name, the raven haired 'Ice Princess' smirked.

"Two!"

"Hyuuga Hinata?"

"T- Three!"

"Namikaze Naruto?"

Naruto made sure to shout it out.

"SIX!"

Yasha frowned, shooting the blonde a nasty look.

"Kinezumi Kinomi?"

"Eight!"

"Potteru Hari?"

Harry looked down "Ten!"

"Sabaku no Gaara?"

The redheaded sand-nin frowned. "Five"

"Sukonku Lulu?"

"THAT'S NOT MY NAME DAMMIT! THE NITCHIES MADE ME DO IT!"

Yasha suddenly loomed evilly over the schizo grass-nin.

"JUST ANSWER MY QUESTION YOU DISRESPECTFUL BRAT!"

Lulu winced, her left eye twitching. "One…"

"Tokagero Taiyo?"

"Seven!"

"Akumu 'darling'?"

The wolf-boy glared at her. "Four, harpy-lady"

"Uchiha Sasuke?"

The dark haired boy smirked.

"Nine"

The gathered data suddenly began to appear on the screen, listing which combatants would be fighting which in next month's final one on one battles.

Match One: Sukonku Lulu vs. Hara no Risika

Match Two: Hyuuga Hinata vs. Match #1 winner

Match Three: Tsukiaoi Akumu vs. Sabaku no Gaara

Match Four: Namikaze Naruto vs. Tokagero Taiyo

Match Five: Kinezumi Kinomi vs. Match #4 winner

Match Six: Uchiha Sasuke vs. Potteru Hari

And then there was the prospect of two other matches - the ones between Akumu and Gaara, and then the one between Naruto and Taiyo. It would rather climatic to watch two Jinchuuriki take each other on - although it was known that Gaara's demon was dead and all he did was retained the beast's powers.

But for poor Hinata, she let out a squeak of fear, terrified at the prospect that she had to fight either the girl that had put Shino in the hospital (the girl that was busy arguing with her sensei over her right to consume sugar filled substances at that very moment) or the girl that had hurt Sakura (the girl that was busy flashing all the boys viscous smiles).

"Don't worry Hinata-chan!" she gasped and then blushed crimson as she turned to face Naruto who had just put an arm around her shoulder for support. "I'll be here for you all the way. You'll do great!"

Then hearing a pair of groans, they looked over at their friends, noticing that Harry and Sasuke weren't happy at all, noting by the frowns on their faces. It wasn't because they would be fighting each other, oh no, it was because what was going on next to them. They're attentions was directed in any direction that meant ignoring Kiba and a now awake Ron's bets with all the other genin who had failed over which one would win the match. It just wasn't funny…

Then Yasha grinned.

"Okay minna! We'll all meet within the village stadium in a month. Train hard and bring only your best and remember - only the strong survive!"


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter Fifteen - A Morning Star Ritual

"Wake up baka! Its training time!"

Harry groaned inwardly, pulling a pillow over his head to block out the noise. It wasn't even dawn yet and he could hear the sound of Sora's fists pounding on the door. If he even bothered to raise his head to look, he would have noticed that it was enough to leave an impression in the poor battered wood. It continued for at least a good ten minutes till she actually punched a hole through the door, thus successfully allowing her to reach an arm through and unlock the door.

If the noise hadn't woken any of the people occupying the rooms on this floor, then it was the indignant squawk of protest from a half clothed Ron before the silver haired girl kicked him out into the hall in only his boxers that did. While girl continued to rant, it seemed like a domino effect as one after another, everyone began to poke their heads out of they're rooms, and that only caused to thoroughly embarrass the scantly dressed redhead.

Naruto and Sasuke peered out of their room, the former laughing his ass off and the latter steeling for a smirk. Kakashi, Obito and Kurenai soon followed them, each adult appearing highly amused. Hinata only chanced a peek out before gasping and slamming the door shut just as quick. Then a dopey Kiba and Akamaru opened their door, smirking at their friend in a way that was only capable of the dog-boy and his canine companion. As for Hermione, Sakura and Shino, well it was clear enough why those three hadn't since they were boarding at the village hospital.

"Snazzy duds Ron!" Kiba snicker through a half yawn, openly mocking the color of the red haired boy's boxers. "Did you choose those yourself or was it your okaa-san?"

Ron flushed, trying uselessly to hide the polka dot and paisley patchwork shorts while his audience laughed some more. "Shut it Kiba!"

Huffing, he turned his back to them and matched over to his room's door, only then noticing that Sora's ranting had ended.

"Hey Harry mate! You still alive in there?"

"Only just…" was the half muffled reply. "Wake me up when hell freezes over…"

"Oh no you don't!" came Sora's voice, just as sharp. "You asked me two days ago if I would help you with a Bloodline Limit Recognition/Awakening Ceremony. It has to be done before the last night star fades from the morning sky, so get some cloths on boy and meet me outside. NOW!"

Ron had to jump hastily out of the way or lest he be bowed over the older girl as she exited the room. As soon as she was down the stairs, Harry poked his own head out of the room.

"It's a curse"

"What is?" asked an interested Naruto who was currently pulling his orange sweater from Mrs. Weasley over his head.

Harry whimpered pathetically.

"Our luck at coming across all the vicious women in this world! Heck, Hermione has always been a stickler for the rules, but being here has warped her. I think the shock of it all had caused her to create her own 'Inner Hermione' - I mean the tension has to have some kind of an outlet!"

Everyone stopped and looked at Kakashi. The silver haired man blinked, shocked at all the faces now turned his way.

"Nani?"

Akumu, although he was long accustomed to living his life on the tundra and having shared his body with an ancient artic wolf demon, he wasn't sure if he would ever learn to love the bane of his existence. It was snow, cold and wet and everywhere. While he muttered darkly on the note of having been dragged out of bed so early, he wasn't even ready for the snowball that smacked directly into the side of his face.

He growled, baring his fangs accusingly at the going blonde behind him. The fox-boy stuck his tongue playful out at the wolf-boy, dodging a well-aimed Hyuuton jutsu that nearly froze, much to both young Jinchuuriki's horror, a very irritable Ron. The redhead snarled in retaliation, firing back with an iceball that he had been crushing like a tension ball in his fists the whole hike.

And a hike it was. Enzeru no Sora, although a nice concerning girl, was a slave driver. It was Harry's fault that the hanyou tenshi had decided to involve herself in extra training. Sorta smitten with the girl, he had made the mistake of asking her if she could help him bring out his dormant bloodline limit, if he even had one that is. Then it had been Ron's mistake for having laughed at Harry once he was fully dressed, which only caused the girl to drag him on this crazy ride. As for Naruto and Akumu, the two Jinchuuriki had been in the wrong place at the wrong time (Naruto having been caught telling Akumu about Harry and Ron's demise, thus making Sora drag them along too as punishment).

"Who did that?" the red haired wizard snapped, his freckles becoming even redder on his cheeks.

"It was Naruto!" Akumu pointed accusingly at his new friend.

"It was not! It was Akumu!" Naruto mirroring the other boy's actions.

"No it wasn't!"

"Yes it was!"

"No it wasn't!"

"Yes it was!"

"No it wasn't!"

"Yes it was!"

"Will you both just shut up?"

They froze, glancing almost timidly at Sora and her ruffled feathers. It had become clear during this trip that no one wanted to ruffle her feathers.

"Now calm down before you cause an avalanche," she said, taking a calming breath of her own. "I may not what you have what you see as 'heavenly virtues', but then I've always been sort of a rebel" her gray eyes left them and turned skyward, watching as stars began to fade. "I'll explain to you what is going to happen. Harry asked me a few days ago to help him discovering bloodline limits in those that don't know whither they have one or not. Since he's my friend and he wanted to know, I'm doing this for him. I'm the case of you other three being here, it isn't just punishment, but the ritual takes a minimum of five people, each one to act for the five for the five elements of Earth, Air, Fire, Water, and Spirit"

Harry blinked, pausing with the incline.

"And which are we?"

He had ever right to ask. Didn't it say in the prophecy that both he and Naruto were Fire? How could that work?

Sora giggled, as if knowing exactly what he was thinking. "It doesn't really matter. One of us will represent an element in one way or another"

So it took them another half hour to reach the destination that Sora had picked, the sky having lightened considerably during the journey. As Ron helped the angel-girl set up, mostly to unfurl scrolls that contained star charts that would have made many witches and wizards back home green with envy.

Together the pair worked flawlessly, creating a simple circle that had five spots marks for the Elements and the corresponding constellations above. While they did that, Naruto and Akumu started another snowball fight, very much distracting Harry from the conversation he was having with Sora on the side about training of genin in Grass Country.

When it was finally complete, they all looked up into the sky to see that the last star was being to shine brighter rather then dim.

"Good" Sora nodded, "We have the star fixated, all we have left to do know is a blood offering"

"All of us?" Akumu asked with a frown. "I know for certain that my clan doesn't have a bloodline limit"

The gray-eyed girl rolled her eyes. "Bloodline or not, the ritual will only work once blood is offered"

"But why doesn't every clan use this then? It seems very simple to me"

"Well its not. Were you even paying attention when I was setting up the safe guards around the circle? I found the information for this ritual in my clan's scroll archive a few years ago. It hasn't been used for centuries because the summoner - me - will have to sacrifice something in return"

That caused the boys to start protesting, but with a clap of her hands, Sora had them calmed down.

"Its my choice" she smiled. "Now are we all ready for this?"

The four boys nodded uncertainly, but what else could they do after having climbed a small mountain side at such an hour in the morning?

"Good"

And so they each took a place in the circle just before the symbols and removed a kunai each from their leg holsters. Without waiting to see if any one was ready, they instinctively slashed the sharp blades across the palms of they're hands simultaneously. Holding they're bloodied hands over the symbols in the snow, they allowed some blood to sprinkle the whiteness below them.

And with that, great pillars of light burst up all around them. It seemed to last hours, but the release of power was in itself enough to throw the five children backwards with extreme force. Having seen everything in a span of two seconds pass so slowly, they hadn't been expecting the pain that would suddenly tare through their heads as they struck the mountainside.

But before darkness claimed them, they were witness to a brief glimpse of the changes that were already happening. And it would the lightning that they would all remember…

- Elsewhere -

Icy winds sweated the frozen tundra of Snow Country; the fifteen below zero temperature not even being dented by the sun of early spring that blazed down from the heavens. It was blinding and for those who were foolish enough to venture out in such conditions were sure to be lost.

Yet a pair of malevolent golden serpentine eyes stared down from the mountains, where in the in distance a bustling village lay hidden in the snowy valleys. There was a soft popping sound and another pair, this one like rubies, and just as evil, soon joined those eyes.

Orochimaru turned, a strand of pitch back hair whipping over his shoulder as he looked at newcomer. He wasn't surprised to see that Voldemort, his last of kin, was finally wearing a body he could call his own. The older man had degraded during his time of being incorporeal. His new body had taken on his old features, a deformed face that was more snake then human, speaking greatly of their ancestry.

"I see you have gotten a new body. From the Akatsuki I presume. Well done for managing to convince them to work with a wizard"

Voldemort smirked. "This is our war cousin. Formalities, that is all, which stands in the way of our killing each other. You know just as well as I do that it has been preordained since Salazar's time. Its like playing chess - everyone in this world are just pawns in our ultimate battle"

"And when did my old organization become a part of it?"

There was dry laugh.

"When I discovered that all my loyal Death Eaters were locked away in Azkaban and those who were free have become pathetic insults. As for how I gained they're 'trust', and I use the word loosely, was that I offered them many secrets of the Wizarding World and other such objects of power. In return some my more 'expendable' Death Eaters will do whatever is in their power to weaken the four demon vessels participating in the exams and thus restart the Shinobi/Wizard wars"

"Given up on the Kyuubi vessel so easily?" Orochimaru sneered, silently agreeing with Voldemorts plans to restart the wars. "I knew younever hadhad what it took to fight a demon"

There was a short silence as the older man decided whither to take the bait or both of them looking back onone the're first meetings with both boys. There was know doubt that they were powerful, even more so when they had their friends to aid them. Potter, Granger and Weasley… Uchiha, Uzumaki and Haruno. Two trinities that opposed them, and they power that they possessed as a whole.

"Oh don't get me wrong," the other man snorted, drawing his robes closer around himself. "I have been witness to the boy's potential, but I have come to realize I get a much better deal out of this. And I suppose your next course of action will be to kill off your old teacher once and for all this time?"

The younger man grimaced inwardly. Such barbs... it was almostpathedicfor two full grown men to be behaving like childing. But the fact thatthey alwaysknew what the other was plaing was a curse. Yet at times it did have its advantages. So many lives have passed like this, a never-ending lament until the day it would end. Slytherin's heirs… how the world didn't know how exactly those words rung true.

"You always were a clever one Brom" he replied, his golden eyes flickering to the other man one last time before he vanished in a puff of smoke. "I anticipate the day of our final battle. Till then"

"And you as well Nyoka. That will come sooner then we think"

Voldemort looked down as well on the unsuspecting shinobi village and smiled wickedly. There would be a judgment day soon. One in which both worlds would feel the wrath of Slytherin and what had been long forgotten after times of the Great Shinobi/Wizard wars…

When Harry woke again, his limbs were numb from cold and eyelashes felt as if they had frozen together. And maybe they had - only god knows how long he was unconscious. His first thoughts were of Sora, Ron, Naruto and Akumu. Were they all right? Or had they gotten hurt because was too overly eager to see if his red haired best friend was right about him having one of the 'long lost' wizarding bloodline limits.

Wincing as he pushed his aching body into an upright sitting position, he rubbed his eyes to remove the frosting on his eyelids.

Opening his eyes was another matter all together because there he was facing Naruto, and he was seeing that his blonde friend had also undergone something amazing. His mouth dropped open, and with Naruto mirroring the action.

"L-look at your hands…" Naruto stuttered.

"Y-your eyes…"

They both stilled as Harry raised his hands to get a good look at them while Naruto brought his hands up to feel around eyes. What they discovered was almost too much for them to take in.

"Bloody hell!"

- Yukigakure -

It was well past lunchtime and one could find Hatake Kakashi pacing back and forth the lobby of inn where he and the genin teams of Konoha were lodged. He remembered being woken by a girl yelling at 3:00 am and finding Ron Weasley standing in the second floor hallway in only boxers. The scene had been amusing to say the least, but he wanted and needed more rest, so opted with going back to bed after having been accused for bringing out Hermione's vicious side.

When he had reawaken six hours later, it was then that he was informed that Harry, Ron and Naruto had left with Kusa-genin Sora on some expedition to the smallest peak of Yukigakure's Eba-Hawaito. The thing was, they should have been back hours ago. It was only thanks to Obito and Kurenai's reassurances that the three were going to be okay which kept the sliver haired pervert from going parental mood - much to all there relief.

"Maybe wolves ate them" Kiba teased as he finished up a bowl a soba, receiving glares from Kinomi, and even more freighting, Hinata.

"Hey, hey! It was only a joke!"

Kinomi, who had become fast friends with Hinata in the past week due their similarities, glowered at the dog-genin.

"I 'spoke' with Shoushin-san earlier and he 'said' that Akumu-kun had left a note saying that he had gone with them. He's from this village, so I'm sure they're okay"

Akamaru howled.

"Yes boy, I know" he sighed. "That only brings me back to what I said about them being eaten by wolves - or should I say wolf…"

That was a bad thing to say. Kiba suddenly felt himself flying through the air, caught of guard by a surprise full body tackle on behalf of one Kinezumi Kinomi. The wind was knocked out of him and when he tried to move, he found that the squirrel-like girl had literately pinned him, her arms locked in a full nelson.

"TAKE IT BACK YOU MONGREL!" she shrieked, reefing back hard with a knee to his back.

Everyone present was wide-eyed with shock by the timid girl's show of physical strength. As they looked closer, they saw that there were tears in both kids eyes - Kiba from the pain and Kinomi from having been never more insulted in all her life.

"I-I-I t-take it b-back!" Kiba whimpered.

And just as fast as she had pounced, Kinomi let go and ran strait for the doors lead out into the village.

"Kinomi! W-wait!" Hinata cried, getting up and following the other girl.

But just as the pair reached the door, it swung open to reveal five haggard faces. They gasped. It wasn't hard to note that Sora's perfect hair looked like a rat's nest and that she had her wings were wrapped around her; Akumu's outfit was rumbled and his tail hanging limply for all to see; Ron frostbitten and his large black eyes clouded with exhaustion. But it was Harry and Naruto who seemed to stick out the most.

Harry was lit up a light bulb; his skin glowing as though some kind of inner light was trying to escape through his pores and his hair crackled with pure electricity. His green eyes looked as if someone had set up large spotlights behind them, thus causing the irises to appear unnatural - and how natural was neon green? Adding to his overall image was that little strands of yellow light, bolts of electrical power, danced from each follicle of hair to the next, a few stray strands actually lancing out to zap the person closest to him.

Naruto on the other hand was completely different. The look of his face made everyone gape at him more then they had gaped at Harry. It wasn't because he was 'flashy' or spectacular like his wizard friend, but because of exactly what he had. His eyes changed again. They had been slitted blue as of this morning, but now they were different. They were devoid of iris, or at least that what it looked like from a distance since the irises were now a milky white, and revolving around the pupil-less eyes where two comma-like dots. And as much as that was shocking, the enlarged blood veins at the corner of each eye added to the display.

"Harry? Naruto?"

The two exhausted boys just nodded tiredly, not bothering with an explanation as the other three smiling weakly. Before passing out, Naruto gave them a grin.

"We'll explain later. Just wake us up in a week"


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter Sixteen - Of Last Minute Preparations

"Okay, listen up! Today's training season is going to solely involve working on devising strategies against your opponent's bloodline limits and special clan jutsus! All those how have made it into the finals have some kind of talent to aid them, so you must be prepared!"

The air was filled with a chorus of less enthused groans. But it was for a cause after all…

The month of training before the finals of the Chuunin Exams was drawing steadily to a close, causing all those who still needed to master and brush up on skills to work even harder. One could normally find various groups and loners at practice if they knew where to look. One could also say it was rather impressive too, seeing as there was a good crop of potentials this examination period.

As it would turn out, even though she could be a slave driver at times, Enzeru no Sora made a great instructor.

"Now we all know that the first match will be fought by Sukonku Lulu and Hara no Risika, and which ever one of them wins will be facing Hinata" the gray eyed hanyou looked directly at the meeker girl. "As Lulu's teammate, I know the inside workings of her kekkei genkai, the Akagane Ayatsuri, and her unfortunate predicament to be cursed with the split personalities of the Lulu Go. As for Risika, Akumu has been kind enough to share information about the mind-user. We'll be helping you when jointly when Akumu has free time from his own training…"

Listening to this, a one Hermione Granger couldn't be more proud.

The bushy haired girl sat off to one side while Sora passed out training instructions, reminding the young witch much of herself. When it came down to it, she really wished that all of the Konoha genin were participating, even though they wouldn't be taking part in the finals.

It had made her rather disheartened with Sasuke brushed them off to be instructed by Obito and Kakashi, Sakura opting to follow her crush wherever he went - Hermione just could help but pity the pink haired girl when the day came that she would realize that, not matter the changes in the dark haired boy's stoic disposition, he would reciprocate any feeling towards her.

What did make the whole matter sweeten was when the Uchiha finally learned exactly what it was for all his fangirls back home. After having spent nearly a month discreetly following the young ice-nin, she had finally lost her cool and had decided to stop playing around like a cat with a mouse. Realizing that he wasn't such a great catch after all, Risika had challenged the boy to a 'friendly' spar, and then trounced him a good one in front of all his peers. It was something that he was not going to able to live down for the rest of his life

'And its not like the girl pulled back with that last punch… Yes, she wanted to make sure the bruise she left around his eye was as blue as possible…' she thought whimsically.

And the cherry to top it, much to Sasuke's horror, was that Sakura readily fawned over him at a moments notice.

"Naruto!"

Sora's voice dragged Hermione out of her reveries. She noticed that the blonde haired boy was surprisingly attentive, waiting on the silver haired girl's every word.

"Now I know you haven't had much practice with your newly activated bloodline limit, and that since as the predecessor of the Byakugan and the Sharingan bloodline limits, it takes vast more charka to wield. Even the Kyuubi can't withstand feeding it its chakra. You have a two - three minute limit to execute whatever plan you might come up with. As your fight in the finals is against Tokagero Taiyo, my other teammate, you will need all the help you can get"

Hermione couldn't help but agree with that last part.

"Since he possesses the Yonbi no Soukou sealed inside him like you and Akumu possess the Kyuubi no Kitsune and the Gobi no Houkou; not to mention that Akumu also faces Sabaku no Gaara, who we all know still possesses the powers of the now dead Ichibi no Shukaku. I'll be explaining to you everything I know about his styles, but alas, the boy is pretty much an enigma…"

And once again the brainy witch's mind wandered off again, taking up a much needed vacation and allowing her thoughts to dwell on one particular person that she wouldn't be caught thinking about a little more then a month earlier.

After all, the flowers that Kiba had even her while she was in the hospital had been terribly beautiful. It was things like these that could almost cause her to forget the time he puked on her…

Almost…

"That bloody woman is a tyrant!" Ron groused an hour later. "I still have no idea why you fancy her mate"

At that comment, Harry both glared and blushed, earning himself some not so helpful snickers from Naruto and Akumu, both of whom were hearing their demons laughing as well. But the redhead wasn't done.

"I mean it's contagious!" he ranted on. "Naruto has Hinata permanently stuck on 'tomato-face mode', and Akumu has Kinomi ready to tare a strip out anyone that insults him - and that's saying something! She's normally too nice! Hell, even Hermione's on Cloud Nine! After nearly seven months of wanting to castrate Kiba, you'd think she wanted to have his puppies!"

"Oh that Weasley kit is so jealous!" the ninetailed fox roared with laughter. "Sooner or later he's going to get desperate. Could you imagine him chasing after that Lavender Brown twit back at Hogwarts, or heaven forbid, take up your old foolish goal of slobbering over Sakura?"

Unable to help himself, keeled over with laughter, surprising everyone when Akumu did the same.

During the month the two boys had forged a connection, allowing them to be able to speak telepathically and to allow their grumpy pent-up demons some time to talk with someone that wasn't, in their opinion, their annoying hosts.

"Good one!" Gobi howled. "I would so love to get front row seating if it ever comes to Ron falling for the bimbo with the radioactive hair. Could you imagine the whelps that would come out of a union like that?"

Laughing so hard, Akumu was crying as he pounded a fist upon the icy ground. His lip began to bleed as he bit into in an effort to stop, his body convulsing with shuddering breaths.

'Please stop! You're killing us!' the plea that echoed in both boy's minds.

When the two demons finally did let up and the pair was able to open their eyes, they found themselves staring up into a face that was so red; it could barely be distinguished from the hair that crowned it. Ron had known all along that he had been the brunt of some sort of nasty inside joke, thus causing the famous Weasley Temper™ to befall his two friends full force.

"What's so funny you buggers?" he snapped, his freckles tuning a nice shade of maroon.

"Yep… they'd make a great couple!"

Naruto nearly chocked on his own tongue.

But Ron was absolutely irate with a capital I. "Its that stupid fox and wolf against it? Come on, answer me!"

Akumu nodded, not trusting his own voice.

"I will have you know that I am not stupid!"

"You could have fooled me…"

"Why you!" fivetailed wolf yelped. "I don't have to take this - I am greatest of all Wolves, demon or otherwise!"

Kyuubi couldn't help but snort at that one.

"Do you really think our containers are going to believe that? If you haven't been able to convince your brat after eleven years of being self-sealed inside him, then you never will. Its times like these that make me wonder how Yonbi copes in that lizard-brat…"

'Yeah…' Naruto replied softly, moving a nice distance away from Ron. 'We all know how Shukaku got it in the end, and need I remind you, it was a certain redhead with a color changing face that did it'

"Too true, yet if he tries to kill Gobi and I, he'll end up sending Akumu and you with us"

Akumu winced 'Such is the bad part about being merged…'

"Oh Ronald…"

All the while the quartet had been speaking, Ron ranted on and on. It wasn't long before he stopped, only noting now that Harry had disappeared, leaving him to fend for himself with a ticked off angel-girl breathing down his neck.

"Y-yes Sora?" he grinned weakly.

Sora smiled sinisterly. "Its lobotomy time!"

The redhead yelped, stumbling backward till he crashed into Harry, who had hidden behind him and created a human domino effect. When they sorted themselves out, they found that the teenage grass-nin was laughing her ass off.

"That was not funny!"

"Oh but it is!" she snickered. "You soo fell for it!" regaining her composure, Sora straitened her jumpsuit and beckoned the pair forward. "Its one of the oldest tricks in the book. Always catch the boy unaware!"

Even Hinata and Kinomi had stopped they're training to giggle at the boy.

Sora nodded.

"So now, where were we?"

"Really Sasuke, its not that bad. It adds character"

The last day before the exams had come and a certain dark haired boy lie back in the snow, resting from a day full of training and examining his black eye with a small pocket mirror. Even after a week, it was still the darkest blue, tender and swollen to an extreme that he would have said that Tsunade had given it to him… alas; he hadn't seen her in over a month.

"Shut up Obito…"

The ghostly Uchiha floated over the younger boy and plopped down beside him.

"But it does!" he laughed. "Has a girl ever given you a black eye before? No, I think not. You've been too pampered by them, that even though you didn't like any of them, you always thought you had it made. It was your fault after all for choosing the wrong kinda girl. That Risika likes to play with her victims before given them the final coup de grace. I had my fair share of black eyes back when I was alive, and I'm sure to get more once I'm alive again"

Sasuke grumbled before standing up and returned to his training with his back was to his incorporeal cousin. Obito let out a sigh. The boy was a right pain in the arse. He wondered at times if the kid was still sane, that maybe it was just a front that he was putting on to hide the truth of his insanity. That could very well be true.

He was far too jealous for normal standards - shutting off completely during this month after he found out that Harry and Naruto possessed bloodline limits, not to mention that Naruto's was the predeceasing bloodline line to the Sharingan, not to mention the Byakugan. At times Obito wondered why he even bothered.

The boy was as irrational and mood-swingy as a pregnant woman, and that was the kind of person you had to tread past with caution.

The ghost watched with amusement as Sasuke stiffened, turning his head around to glare at him, having undoubtedly sensed that he was being silently mocked. Obito just smirked back at the boy, waving mockingly.

Sasuke snorted with disgust. "You are the most un-Uchiha Uchiha I have ever met…" he remarked dryly.

Obito had the decency to look both flattered and insulted at the same.

"I'll take that as a complement then!" he frowned peevishly before brightening. "Stoicism is a killer! I'd rather 'live' happy then miserable. If you don't learn to spice up your life fast boy, you'll turn out like Kakashi"

The dark haired boy wrinkled his nose in disgust.

"I highly doubt a bit of brooding with will turn me into obsessive pervert with an chronic case of lateness"

Obito snorted.

"I'd be careful if I were you" he snickered. "There seems to be a pervert in every generation. Sarutobi-sama taught Jiraiya, Tsunade and Orochimaru - Jiraiya become a pervert; Jiraiya taught Minato, Ki and Roza - Roza become a pervert; Minato-sensei taught Rin, Kakashi and I - Kakashi become a pervert; Kakashi is teaching you, Naruto and Sakura - thus meaning there is still a chance that one of you three could turn pervert"

Sasuke shuddered. "Who are Ki and Roza?"

"Hikaru Ki and Arrashiihana Roza were Minato-sensei's teammates. I never met Ki since he died while I was still in the academy, but Roza… she had more thorns then a cactus. From what I remember, she died during an espionage mission in Amegakure not long before I become chuunin. A good person, but Kami was she scary"

Sasuke raised an eyebrow in interest.

"How so?"

"She had a arsenal of sexual innuendos that could make the a chaste person blush and enough perverted homemade jutsus to put her on par with Jiraiya!"

"Sasuke-kun!"

The dark haired boy froze, dreading what he would find when he turned around.

"Do you mind?" he snapped, the two Uchiha turned to see Sakura and Inner Sakura sitting on a snow bank a few feet away, a smile on their faces that wasn't entirely directed at Sasuke. "This is a privet conversation!"

"But I thought I hear you mention someone by the name of Roza?" Inner Sakura frowned.

"Yeah, so?"

"You were talking about Arrashiihana Roza right?"

If Obito had been living and in color, he would have blanched.

"Y-yes… how do you know about her?"

They answered with only a squeal of excitement.

"Can you tell us about her? Please, please! Okaa-san is still to won't us anything about her nee-chan! Come one, come one! We want to know all about our oba-san!"


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter Seventeen - The Chuunin Exams prt. 7

(On with the Finals)

"So Ginmaru-sama, who do you think has the most potential to win?"

There was twenty minutes until first match of the third exam began. Running a hand through his raven hair, the young Rikkakage turned to speaker. Out of all Yukigakure's honorable guests, ranging from varying ranked feudal lords to village leaders, the Raikage of Kumogakure had to be the most bothersome people had had ever met. The elderly man with age whitened hair, wrinkles, and deepest blue eyes had a knack of get on one's nerves quickly no matter what the circumstance may be.

"I'd rather not make assumptions Raikou-sama," he confessed. "Just under half the potentials here today were the ones we underestimated during the preliminaries. These children have surprising arsenals"

Raikou, the elder of the two men, nodded sagely. "Yes… I myself was very surprised to discover that out of the teams we sent, half returned to us after failing the first exam and that two perished during the second…"

"But, what I am most interested in seeing," the older man continued, much interest twinkling in his old eyes. "Is how raven-haired haired youth with the glasses fares"

The two Kages looked down from their booth above the arena to gaze upon a gathered group of six Konoha genin.

"I met the boy and his team last year when they help settle a dispute in one of the neighboring merchant villages. Although some of my jounin attacked their team, they proved formidable. Upon meeting with them, I would have mistaken him for one of my own he not been wearing a Konoha hitai-ate, due to how proficient he is Raiton jutsus"

Ginmaru feigned shock. "A mere boy managed to catch your eye so Raikage-sama?"

"Not just a boy, but a prophecy child. Although you can't see it, that boy hides a curses mark under that forehead protector of his in the shape of a lightning bolt. As declared in one of our few prophecies, the child who bares the mark of the heavens shall be one of six that will bring an end to our dark histories"

That caused Ginmaru to incline a dark eyebrow. "You think that the Shinobi/Wizard wars are to return?"

Raikou eyes lit up even more. "You have been schooled well I see. But to your question, I must reply with a no. I believe that they will be the one to prevent that Dark Age from retuning, and maybe bring peace that hasn't been seen between our races in over two millennia"

The Rikkakage nodded.

"Have you," the Raikage asked expectantly. "Have you seen a child - here - that possess the power to see spirits?"

"Of course" the younger man chuckled, and gestured back to the group. "He is the redheaded teammate of the boy you speak so adamantly of"

"That freckled gaki? I wound never have guessed!"

"And what of these other prophesy children?"

"One would have a wise mind that knew all; another would possess to sentient minds; another possessing an innocence evil; and the last would be a seeker of vengeance"

Nodding again, Ginmaru smiled. "Then I have two more answers for you. I do not know of the wise one or the seeker of vengeance, but the other three yes. The possessor of two sentient minds - the pink haired girl. From what I've discovered, she is the latest of that rare Two-minded bloodline that has been a part of every country during last millennia. As for the innocence evil - the blonde boy. As of my last correspondence with Konoha, that boy just so happens to be the son of they're legendary Yondaime and a Jinchuuriki"

Raikou was quite for a moment; processing everything he had been told.

"Then the other two must be remaining brunettes. Those six seem unnaturally close, even as far as comrades go"

"Its very likely"

"Otooji-sama"

The two Kages paused, turning at the appearance of one of the soon-to-be-fighting genin standing behind them.

"Yes Risika-meichan?" Ginmaru smiled.

The raven-haired girl returned smiled, her curls bobbing. "All lords and country delegates have been accounted for. Yasha-sempai sent me to advise you that the third exam is ready to begin whenever you are"

The young man laughed.

"Such a silly girl. You fight in the first match - I'll be ready when you are"

Risika's face lit up, a crafty smiled gracing her pale features.

"Oooh I'm ready otooji-sama!"

"Then go"

The girl bolted, leaving the two older men behind. The Raikage smirked.

"Strange girl you got there"

Ginmaru shuddered. "She takes after her mother. I regret the moment that woman was born as my sister…"

It had been a long an tiresome month of training in the frozen temperatures of Snow Country, but for the winners of the preliminaries, it had been worth it. All of the teammates of those winners had come to watch and cheer them on, crossing their fingers for good luck while jinxing their opponents.

Right now everyone was excited in getting to watch the first match of Sukonku Lulu vs. Hara no Risika. It was hard to guess which of the two would win the match, taking both Risika's bloodline limit and Lulu's bloodline limit into account. It would be an exciting fight that was for sure and it anticipated eagerly.

So while everyone got seated comfortably within the large indoor arena, people waited with bated breath as the fist two combatants walked onto the field. While everyone watched Lulu (all for different reasons),Sasuke was acting so un-Sasuke-like with his eyes his glazed and cheeks flushed (defiantly not from the cold though) as he watched Risika.

"Match One!" Yokoshima Yasha, this time dressed in purple and green body armor announced. "Sukonku Lulu vs. Hara no Risika. HAJIME!"

Risika, who had watched closely to Lulu and Shino's match last month, was determined not to be caught off guard by the girl's crazy disposition. For one thing, she didn't want to use many mind jutsus on her for sake of loosing her own mind.

"Ninpou: Meimu Sumiyaka no Jutsu!" she cried, dashing forward at blinding speeds that left multiple afterimages in her wake.

Before she could make her first hit, Lulu lashed out, "Akagane Kodate!" and created a protective wall between them that was make complete out of copper webbing. Gazing at her, she said nothing.

"Very well…" she purred at her opponent. "I'm going to have some fun. I'd like to you meet some friends of mine - Kurushimi and Tanoshimi - the twins of Pain and Pleasure!"

All snow-nin present shared knowing smiles while the rest of the audience gasped as the raven-haired girl's hands flashing down to her thighs, and withdrew two concealed ice blades with expertly precision.

"Ninpou: Kichigai Sashiki no Batsu!"

Risika charged, her hands moving in a blur. The sound of seriated blade against rock hard sand filled the arena as girl assaulted the stand-genin's impenetrable defense. Anyone that had previously seen Lulu in action during the last preliminaries wondered if such an attack was useful, but they were definitely in for a shock as Kurushimi tore through the net of copper and made a long gash along Lulu's left cheek.

With a growl, the copper net suddenly turned into what appeared to be a gigantic fist, punching the golden eyed girl in the stomach so hard that she was sent flying across the arena. Gagging slightly, she rose shakily to her feet.

Green eyes meeting gold, Lulu launched her first 'real' attack of the match.

"Ninpou: Suraisu no Shikyo" she growled.

Chakra flooded the air around her, starting at the Risika's feet to being wrapping her up. The raven-haired girl's eyes widened, and she cried out in shock, holding onto wounds that were not even there - it seemed to be a ninjutsu crossed with genjutsu! As the netting of chakra her tighter, she could barely hear the sound of Lulu's voice demanding that she forfeit the match or die as she 'felt' three of her ribs cracked under the pressure.

No one could ever have the right to boost over having beaten her - she was UNBEATABLE!

'No!' she hissed telepathically into Lulu's mind. 'You shall see that the extent of my power is much more then yours is!'

'We shall see about that' the other girl mentally whispered back to her. 'Never underestimate those you believe are weaker…'

And then Risika did the one thing that shocked everyone around her - she executed her final attack without the use of hand seals, her chakra moving in the correct patterns.

"Hijutsu: Kenboushou"

Eyes widening, she briefly heard Lulu's mind - minds - cry out in shock as they went blank and she collapsed to her knees. The nin/gen jutsu crumpled slowly loosened its hold on the mind-genin without its wielder being in a proper state of mind - any state of mind - allowing for Risika slowly scrambled away from her.

Yasha walked over and looked down into the inert girl's glassy green eyes.

"You stole her memories right?" her role model asked.

"Anything is possible for a possessor of the Kamiomoi. She'll just have to wait a day" Risika yawned, not really paying any attention to the slight twitch she felt in her left eyebrow - it was nothing. "But I think that what I did to her is very beneficial - I heard her other-selves dying when I erased her memories, so when she wakes up, she'll be only one girl with one personality. Anyway, since she can't fight anymore, I win"

"Winner, Hara no Risika!"

Since her opponent was unable to fight let alone function properly for three days, Risika had won the first match and now all she had to do was wait for her next opponent - that meek white eyed girl from Konoha. Even though she had just fought an exhausting battle, she felt surprisingly energized.

'That little freak is going to loose…'

Risika paused and shock her head. Where had that thought come from? She had only ever seen boys as freaks before, never other girls (although that Sukonku girl didn't really count as a girl). What in the world was wrong with her…?

Now for Hinata, she was unnerved by the puzzle expression the other girl had before is melted away into a predatory gaze as she made her way toward into the arena.

"Kick her butt Hinata-chan!" she heard Naruto shouted to her, and she had to fight back a blush.

Even with all the encouragement that Naruto and her friends were now cheering, her momentary courage was washed away by that single look.

It wasn't Risika's…

"Match Two! Hara no Risika vs. Hyuuga Hinata! HAJIME!"

Before Hinata could blink, the other girl attacked with a viscous intent that was double the norm. Caught unprepared by a flying jump kick the chest, the indigo haired girl was thrown across the floor to come crashing down painfully.

Wheezing, Hinata picked herself up and stood unsteadily on feet.

"Byakugan!"

She stared with her enhanced All-seeing eyes at the girl with the eyes of liquid gold and curly raven hair. What she saw caused her own pale eyes to widen - behind the ice-nin, invisible to the normal human eye, was the silhouette of another girl, this one with two-toned green/black hair…

"Not so strong are you little girl" the ghostly girl spoke, her lips moving silently as the words were spoken through Risika's mouth. "So much like that teammate of yours…"

Hinata gasped. "You're not Risika! You're Lulu!"

The sound of everyone's shock filled the air, and for manically grinning girl, it was like music to her ears. Hinata's eyes remained focused on the shade that was apparently controlling the girl see was suppose to fight.

"Close enough" she giggled, her words still being spoken by the raven-haired girl. "I am Lulu Go, safely defense mechanism of the mind of Sukonku Lulu. When Lulu mind was shattered, four personalities were created. The personality of the original Lulu become Lulu Ichi; Lulu Ni was created from her fear; Lulu San was created from her good; and Lulu Shi was created from her anger. That little mind manipulator should have been more careful. You should never enter another's mind without permission, especially someone that has five fragmented minds"

"But you've only explained f-four. What are you created then?" Hinata dared to ask.

Lulu Go smiled softly.

"I was created from her will to live, thus becoming her foremost defense. When Risika stripping Lulu Ichi of her memories, she killed Lulu's Ni, San, Shi - but she couldn't kill me. Instead she absorbed me!"

At that, the pale-eyed girl was starting to panic. Risika/Lulu hadn't made to attack her again, yet, but she was terrified. What good was Sora training now? With Risika's bloodline limit and Lulu's tactics, it was safe to say that she was royally screwed.

"Come Hyuuga-san, no chickening out me now or are you as weak as that fool father of yours says?"

As Risika/Lulu charged, ready to attack again, Hinata suddenly had all the incentive to attack that she needed, all her fear having melted away. No one insulted her or her family, not matter how dysfunctional they were.

And to everyone's surprise, Hinata let out a battle cry and dashed forward. The two girls clashed, the intensity of their fight rising by every heated second. Wielding Risika's Tanoshimi and Kurushimi, the strange mind-melded girl was a formidable opponent. It forced the young Hyuuga to dodge and weave to the best of her abilities, though that didn't mean she didn't have a fair collection of lacerations due to the wicked ice blades.

And the best thing for this girl would be Hinata's secret weapon - the most powerful genjutsu that Kurenai-sensei had ever taught her.

"Indou no Kage!"

The area was filled was shadows, and all anyone could feel was the walls vibrating with a sound they couldn't here. And although no one in the arena save for Hinata and Risika/Lulu could hear, as a strange wailing began to echo off the walls. It had a musical lilt to it, and was immensely depressing. To everyone but Yuuhi Kurenai, shock was written across their features when the mind-melded genin froze, tears suddenly streaming down her face and her body beginning to quiver.

"K-k-kai!" Risika/Lulu sobbed, flailing her arms as she tried to dispel the illusion.

It wouldn't go away.

Hinata smiled grimly. She didn't like to use stuff like this on people.

"Gomen, but this is one genjutsu you cannot dispel," she whispered. "You are forced to hear this mournful song until you forfeit… or die of from self-induced sorrow…"

"N-never!" Risika/Lulu growled. "N-Ninpou: Meimu Sumiyaka no J-Jutsu!" vanishing and reappearing at consecutive intervals thanks to Risika's powers, the interloper attacked again.

Everyone watched silently, which was quite the task for both Naruto and Kiba, one wanting to cheer on his sort girlfriend and the other for his normally timid teammate. But they held their tongues, waiting with bated breaths to see what she had planned. Time seemed to have slowed as nothing happed, and then as Hinata, her enhanced vision watching the moment the other girl's chakra, slowly fell into stance of the Gentle Fist.

At what seemed like that the last moment, Hinata lashed forward with one arm, slamming her palm into dead space at the same moment that a curly head of raven hair appeared. The girl twisted, but wasn't fast enough, her right shoulder taking a heavy hit.

Sound suddenly returned to the arena. The indigo haired girl bushed furiously as she heard Naruto and rest of the audience cheering for her. She could manage to fight down the blush this time.

"W-why you…" Risika/Lulu gasped, looking down at her right arm that was now hanging limply at her side. "What did y-you do to me?"

Hinata crossed her arms. "Don't you know anything about the Hyuuga?" she chided lightly, not wanting to provoke the other girl further. "With the aid of our Byakugan, we can see out opponent's tenketus points. I watched your chakra signature and attacked the moment you appeared before me. Risika's Illusion Speed technique is therefore ineffective against me. So you see, I shut down the tenketus point in 'your' right shoulder"

Up in the stands, Kurenai couldn't be more proud of her young student. She had seen the girl grow so much in this last month and she truly hoped that Hinata would be promoted. Hell, she hadn't even stuttered once while making her explanation.

"Now prepare yourself - you are in my field of hakke…"

"Winner, Hyuuga Hinata!"

The last part of the second match had been spectacular. Once Risika/Lulu had been rendered unconscious, a sickly yellow mist fled the raven-haired girl's body through her noise. As everyone guessed, it was final death of Lulu Go, and thus the reawakening of Lulu Ichi, just Lulu - the one and only.

As Hinata retuned, quite tired from all the chakra she had expended, to her cheering friends, there was nothing in the world that could make her happier. She could barely hear Akumu congratulating her as she was lead away by a medic-nin and he made his way down into the arena for his own match against Gaara - the first of two Jinchuuriki vs. Jinchuuriki battles.

With a cocky grin, the wolf-boy vaulted over the railings at the same time that the raccoon-eyed boy sand teleported into the area as well.

"Match Three!" Yasha, who for the last few minutes hadn't been quite herself since her young protégée had her mind taken over by that crazy skunk-girl and then had her ass kicked by a girl who looked like she would cry at the sight of blood.

"Tsukiaoi Akumu vs. Sabaku no Gaara! HAJIME!"

There was a hushed silence as everyone, those who knew at least, leaned eagerly forward to watch the two Jinchuuriki. Neither boy moved, rather standing as still as possible and waiting for the other to make the first move. It lasted for at least two solid minutes before the both vanished, Gaara in a swirl of sand and Akumu is a blizzard of snow.

An instant later they clashed.

Akumu's claws suddenly took on a vicious icy blue aura, rending the other boy's sand-shield and forcing him into close combating taijutsu. His face as an emotionless mask as normal, Gaara allowed his sand to adapt to his white haired opponent's on slot, drawing them both into a cocoon of sand. It wasn't long before the sight of a dozen large ice spikes bursting out of the sand, causing the cocoon to explode and expel the two combatants graced the audience.

"That was cool" Akumu laughed as soon as he hit the floor, whipped blood away from a split lip. "Lets do that again!"

Gaara frowned. The boy… he was annoying, yet to fight him was almost refreshing, reminding him of only three other occasions - his fights with Lee, Naruto, and Ron - even though he had been under Shukaku's control at the time.

And so they clashed again.

"Try this on for size" Akumu shouted, his hands dancing in complicated seals as he dodged a tidal wave of sand. "Gyouko Gouka no Jutsu!"

A gasp rang out through the arena as great tendril of the sentient sand closest to the wolf-boy was instantly crystallized. With a slight kick, the crystal pillar shattered, its downfall like a shower of twinkling bells. But that didn't seem to satisfy with white haired boy.

"Ninpou: Odori no Sennin Tsukiaoi!"

From the sidelines, Yasha smirked, watching as the boy flew into the patterns of clan's taijutsu style that he rarely used unless he wanted to prove a point. Balancing perfectly on one foot, the wolf-boy launched into a whirl. He moved as if the ground had become ice; skating across the floor as he preformed kicks, back flips, punches and parries with the redheaded sand-nin.

It ended though with Gaara simply ordering his sand to lash out and trip the boy. Akumu landed unceremoniously in a mangled heap on the arena floor.

"I have no time for ballet" the raccoon-eyed boy glowered. "Take this battle seriously or I'll be forced to show you my true power"

"Bring it on!" Akumu snapped, baring his fangs.

"Raise the roof!"

That comment momentarily distracted the pair, causing them to look into the stadium to where Naruto and Ron looked down at them with cocky grins. For the first time since arriving in Yukigakure a little over a month ago, Gaara smiled. He knew exactly what Naruto and Ron meant by that.

"Very well" he replied and drew upon the banks of youkai chakra sleeping within him.

With a mighty roar that raised the hair of many spectators, especially that of a watching Tamari and Kankoru who still hadn't gotten used to their little brother's 'peace of mind', Gaara allowed himself to begin a transformation.

It wasn't like that of the last time he had transformed in battle, but rather like that of boy standing before him during his preliminary battle with his elder sister. Bones crunching, a feeling of exhilaration burn like wild fire as the red haired genin morphed to a horse-size raccoon the color of golden red with one large tail whipping around behind it.

Akumu sniffed indignantly when large raccoon growled its challenge.

"So you want to play it that way hunh? Fine by me!"

In retaliation the white haired boy did the same, the crunching of his transforming bones echoing thought the stadium, and causing many to shudder with disgust. Like a month ago, all witness of the preliminaries was once again graced with the sight of a horse-sized artic wolf with color white fur and five tails that danced with the anticipation of battle.

Up in their seats, Naruto and Ron were having seconds thoughts too late for having yelled out what they just had.

"You know," the blonde commented. "I don't think that was the wisest of ideas…"

"Yeah…" the red head muttered. "But at least it'll be exciting?"

"What do you mean?" the group sitting next to them asked, all looking fearful.

It was Akamaru who answered, the little dog yapping like crashing and forcing Kiba to translate.

"They're alphas" the dog-genin replied with wide eyes. "An alpha vs. alpha fight, whether or not they of the same species, always results in a to-the-death-battle for dominance"

From where Kinomi was sitting only a few seats away, she blanched.

"But then that mean Akumu-kun might die!"

"Not necessarily. If one manages rendered its opponent unconscious, then the victor may allow the loose to life with the shame of loss"

"And if it doesn't?"

"Then one of them is going to be dead or worse…"

Kinomi raised an eyebrow, Hinata looking equally puzzled.

"Worse how?"

Kiba had a look of torment written across his face as he answered, crossing his legs unconsciously as he did so.

"…Neutered"

Both girls let out squeaks of shock and embarrassment, their faces bright red, but expressions showing nothing but pity. Hinata ground her teeth and in a voice that only Kinomi could hear, growled.

"That lizard-boy b-better make sure that d-doesn't happened to my Naruto-kun or I'll be d-doing it him!"

The bespectacled girl's eyes widened dramatically before she burst into a fit of wild laughter.

After a half hour of fang and claw fighting, the clash of titans ending rather anticlimactic. After having exhausting all recourses, it appeared that the two large demonic beasts were completely equal in power. Bleeding from hundreds of wounds, the wolf and the raccoon set to maul each other to death with little avail, due to simple fact that their before hand battle had caused some fangs to fall out.

Akumu was the first to revert transformation. The white haired boy had chunks of hair missing and well as many slowly healing lacerations.

"This sucks…" he whimpered, pulling out his last canine fang as he did so and then reached back to gingerly touch his limp tail. "I think my tail is broken"

The remaining participants and their teammates sweatdropped.

Then Gaara reverted. "What a pity," he growled, only slightly noticing that his appearance had slightly changed. Unlike the other present Jinchuuriki, his only had claws and fangs, his eyes the emerald version of Shukaku's and his human ears had tapered. "You got lucky - I should have broken it off"

The wolf-boy growled. "You're not faring any better!"

The redhead spat blood.

"True, but a little pain means nothing to me. Suna Shuriken!"

Tiredly, Akumu weakly managed a Kawarimi just in time, though that didn't stop him from begin wounded more then he already was.

"You bastard…" he muttered, swaying on his feet. "I g-get you for that"

"I seriously doubt that"

But fate would have it; he was betrayed by a slight wobble in his step as he moved forward.

"Hey whelp…"

Akumu perked slightly at the sound of his demon's voice, although albeit tired.

'Yeah Gobi?'

He couldn't help but shiver, having sensed that the connection between Naruto and Kyuubi was blocked - it was a privet conversation.

"I have a going a present for you…"

The white haired boy stiffed, causing Gaara and those around him to wonder what had just happened.

'G-going away? What do you mean?'

The wolf demon laughed. "Its my time brat. We demons can choose when we die. Its my time to die"

'No!' Akumu mentally cried, suddenly very aware that he lifelong companion, no matter how irritating, was going to leave.

"Sorry whelp," Gobi sighed. "But I've exhausted myself keeping you alive. That Gaara kid has inherited Shukaku's power. If it weren't for me, he would have killed you. After twelve years I have finally come to realize that you were the pup I never had. Use my powers well. Goodbye… Akumu…"

And the connection was severed sharply, the boy letting out a wail of pain as he crumpled to the ground, a shockwave of chakra leaving his body as he did so. The shock brought Gaara to his knees, and up in the stadium seats, Naruto and Taiyo found themselves fighting to breath.

'Gobi…Nigai… please don't leave me…' and then he fainted, crumbling into submission as darkness claimed him.

Around him there was silence.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter Eighteen - The Chuunin Exams prt. 8

(It's Only the Beginning)

From their respective seats, the jounin leaders were in shock. Kita no Toushou had left their side and gone down into the arena to check on his student. As he had guessed, the white haired Jinchuuriki had changed, the tail he had grown so accustomed to in the last few years had vanished, and left behind was a set of tapered ears.

He looked over at the sand-genin, noticing that the shockwave had knocked the boy unconscious as well.

'Full demons ruled by human hearts' the Frostbite of the North thought. 'I would never have imagined that the Gobi would relinquish it power and demonic status to Akumu - that's just unheard of' he looked back at Gaara. 'I understand that that boy inherited his powers and status through the forced demise of the Ichibi, but this…'

He raised his eyes and looked up into the stands were the two remaining Jinchuuriki, the vessels of the Yonbi and Kyuubi sat, still gasping for breath after having felt the death of one their demon's fellow Biju. Glancing back down at Akumu, he sighed and picked up the boy, allowing the medic-nin to fret over boy.

What would the Tsukiaoi say about this? They would surely try to kill the boy now, clan heir or not. It was as the clan was trying to drive the boy off, to force him beyond his patience's limit and ultimately lead him down the path of becoming a missing-nin. And then that Kinezumi girl to take into account. It was clear he held her above all others as his most precious person.

What a shame… that boy had so much potential and it was going to be either wasted or used by those willing to see beyond prejudice.

Meanwhile, Kakashi was leaning nonchalantly back against the booth reserved for the jounin instructors. Kurenai had been bragging up a storm since Hinata had beaten her opponent, and who could blame her? The Hyuuga girl had made quite an accomplishment.

"So… how do you think Naruto will do?"

Kakashi turned to Obito, noticing that young/old friend was staring down into the arena at the blonde making his way for his own battle. The translucent boy looked up at him, concern radiating from his mismatched eyes.

"Its not just coincident you know," he declared suddenly. "Four Jinchuuriki participating at the same time? Each paired with another. Toushou-san's student just made the last step in 'evolution'. Of the nine Jinchuuriki, we only know of two free of their demon's influences. On top of that, we only know the locations of seven of the nine. I fear for him Kakashi…"

The silver haired man nodded.

"So do I but Naruto, just like Sasuke, Sakura, Harry, Ron, and Hermione, has to grow up sometime. We all have demons and must face them at one point in our lives, some more then others. And while some of us recover from our wounds, some do not. I understand now why Rin fled. Having lost you nearly broke us, and the only way to heal herself was to leave Konoha indefinably. I hope only that wherever she is, has come to terms with her demons"

Obito gapped, his eyes wide in astonished amazement. After a while, a sardonic smirk graced his ghostly features.

"Why Kaka-teme, I do believe you just said something wise"

"Why you!"

Naruto stretched, making his way down into the area with slight foreboding. He would be fighting Tokagero Taiyo, Jinchuuriki of the Yonbi no Soukou. Although he had spent a productive month learning from Sora about the older boy's strengths and weakness, as well as train his newly developed Sharikugan enough to be able to hold his blasted bloodline limit for a max of five minutes, he wasn't sure how he was going to far against the other boy.

Taiyo was strong, that much he had proven during the preliminaries when he fought against and poisoned Hermione. This boy had fourteen years of experience with a demon while he had only had two with own since he had been so 'blissfully' ignorant. He had also semi-witnessed the Gobi no Houkou abdicating its role as the Five-tailed Wolf Demon and giving the title to Akumu.

And then there was Kyuubi's ranting.

"Don't get all teary eyed kit!" the fox growled. "Gobi made a choice, and that's just how it is. Be proud that the stupid wolf had it in him to give his whelp such a blessing. Me on the other, you'll be forced to put up me 'cause I'm not planning on dieing any time soon! Now forget about Akumu, because we have to show that brat and his overgrown chicken whose boss!"

Unable to help himself, Naruto laughed. The lightening of the blonde's mood didn't go unnoticed by the approaching green haired youth. The vessel of the Yonbi paused, cocking his head to the side as he took in his opponent.

"Good," Taiyo nodded, facing Naruto with a smirk. "I rather a lighthearted or serious opponent opposed to one that was frightened"

"Ditto!"

Doing something that no one expected, Taiyo shed his thermal coat, revealing arms covered with shimmering scales, he dropped into a foreign battle stance that looked in Naruto's opinion quite lethal. Furiously rushing over everything her had been taught by Sora during the last month, Naruto readied himself to use the Shunshin at the same time the memory of learning about his bloodline limit coming back to him…

"I know about your bloodline"

Everyone stopped talking at once to look at Obito. The ghostly boy with the mind of a man looked thoughtful, not really paying attention to the stares of shock he was getting.

"And how do you know and I don't?" Kakashi groused, crossing his arms like a child that had its favorite toy taken away.

The ghost's mismatched eyes glance at the silver haired man and then at everyone else.

"It was a secret Kaka-teme," Obito sighed, spreading his hands wide. "I remember that I found out not long after becoming apart of Minato-sensei's team. I had been snooping through the clan archives when I found what had shocked the hell out of me. It was there that I discover that our Sharingan was born due to the mutation of an even more powerful kekkei genkai. I also discovered that the same mutation lead to the birth of the Hyuuga clan's Byakugan"

Attentive to the max now, Naruto and friends calmed down; sitting on the floor of Kakashi room to listen to the story Obito was beginning to tell.

"It was called the Sharikugan, the All Seeing Mirror Wheel Eye. It was an extremely powerful back when shinobi and wizards had begun to create special augmented powers for their own clan arsenal. It was used as frequently as the Sharingan and Byakugan are today back when the Earth actually blessed us with the use of her life force and not just our own. It was with the Great Shinobi/Wizard War that the Earth withdrew her blessing from both shinobi and wizards. The possessors of the Sharikugan suddenly found themselves without their greatest power, and in their weakness had been greatly reduced in number.

It only took a few years, but that was enough for a mutation to manifest. The new generations of children were born with only a half a spectrum of the bloodline limit in their eyes. After a few decades, the clan had been split into three factions. Those that possessed the red eyes of the Sharingan would go on to become the Uchiha; those that possessed the white eyes of the Byakugan would go on to become the Hyuuga; and those who eyes hadn't changed, yet remained dormant, would become the Namikaze"

All the time he was listening, Naruto had unconsciously put a supportive arm around Hinata's should, having unknowing sensed that the shy girl was over come by shock after having been told that she was distant kin to both Naruto and Sasuke.

"Do you know anything else?" he asked hopefully, praying silently that Obito had more answers for he and Hinata, and Sasuke when it came down to it, even though he wasn't there to here this tale.

Obito frowned slightly. "That's about it Naruto. I do remember that I was amazed that my own sensei had the same clan name as the one that was supposed to possess the dormant Sharikugan. I made a vow that day that I would find out whither or not it was true, not matter what it took. Since I couldn't just ask him directly without being caught for having snooped, and since the rest of the clan had died off from disease when he was a boy, I to wait. After one full year, my waiting paid off. It seemed that Minato-sensei had managed to awaken his dormant Sharikugan, but what he could use of it was limited to the power to dictate an opponent's attacks and to see with only 180 degrees of vision. He had only managed to hold his Sharikugan in place for ten minutes before it failed, thus not returning for another day until he had a chakra level high enough to power it. I confronted him then, and he told me the story from the Namikaze clan's point of view. I swore to keep it a secret, and only reveal my knowledge should something happen to him and the Sharikugan was no more.

So now you see I have no idea which abilities have been born into your eyes. You haven't yet tested your capabilities so it's hard to say if you will only receive a few abilities or the whole package. That can only be discovered with hard work, time and determination. Though it all depends on time, I am sure that with the Kyuubi's aid chakra wise, you have a greater chance at gaining more abilities then your father"

There was silence again as Naruto looked around at his friend's faces. Hinata was absolutely enthralled, and more then just a little bit happy since her father wouldn't let her marry someone that wasn't distinctly related - and now she knew that Naruto was, no matter how incredibly distant. Kinomi was whispering something to Akumu, causing the wolf Jinchuuriki to snicker softly. As for Harry, Ron, Sora, and Kiba, the four did a great impression of flycatchers.

Not to mention that Kakashi and Kurenai were just as flabbergasted.

"And would it have by chance, powers like the Mangekyou?"

Everyone gasped and turn around, finding Sasuke leaning against the doorframe with an unreadable expression on his face.

"Anything is possible" Obito replied. "But as to how to activate that power if there is one, we shall not know until it happens. After all, the Mangekyou is a power that was born from the Sharingan and not the Sharikugan…"

'Five minutes' Naruto nodded to himself. 'After a month of harsh labour I can hold my Sharikugan active for five minutes. So if I manage to beat lizard-boy here, then I'll have to fight Kinomi next. If I beat her, then I'll have to face either Sasuke or Harry. If I manage that, then I'd go on to face Hinata-chan…'

"Then you are going to have to use your powers wisely" Kyuubi replied.

'Understood. That's a prospect of fours battles… I'll only be able to use the Sharikugan for a minute at a time!'

The fox snorted. "Such is the pity of your human limitations" the ninetails chuckled. "But don't forget that you've done just as well without an 'oh-so-powerful-bloodline-limit' for nearly thirteen years! Don't tell me you've gone soft?"

'Bite your tongue baka kitsune! I didn't plan on using it the whole time; I just wanted a chance to play and so off my 'superior' abilities in Sasuke-teme's face! Haa, haa!'

"Sadistic much?"

'No more then you, you overgrown rodent'

"Rodent! Rodent! I'll show you rodent brat!"

Naruto let out a gasp as the Kyuubi suddenly forcibly wrenched control over their body, the blonde's facial features becoming more fox-like as the Ninetailed Fox switched places with its vessel; a nine tails grew from his behind and fan out. The very act caused Taiyo to stumble backward, the green haired boy having been completely unprepared for such an action.

'Who's the rodent now kit?'

"Why you fleabag!" Naruto screamed, banging his fists against the backside of Kyuubi's cage. "Let me the hell out of here!"

The fox laughed.

'Don't get your 'panties' in a twist brat; it'll only last for the fight. Anyway, as it is, you so far wield three of the Sharikugan's abilities. I have other plans for the lizard-brat and if I successful, then you'll have a minute and half to use some of the Hyuuga style you learned from Hinata-chan on Kinomi-san. If all goes well from there, then proceed to use another minute and a half of the same the movement prediction technique with either Sasuke or Harry, and I dare say if you survive with your pride intact, engage your girlfriend using a joint attack of the hypnotizing and 200 degrees of vision with the last of your time"

"But - "

'Are you going to complain, or are you going to let me fight? Apparently Yonbi has come out to play as well…'

Ignoring the volley of protests that were still beginning issued from the blonde, Kyuubi ducked a coming blowing as lashed out with clawed hand catch its opponent in the side, gouging through the thin scales. With a feral version of Naruto's vulpine grin, Kyuubi turned.

"Nice to see you again Soukou"

"Likewise Kitsune" a hash, but rather feminine voice replied.

Kyuubi looked the boy up and down.

Tokagero Taiyo was still a basic Jinchuuriki, unaffected by merger-bonding and with the barest control over his demon. Unlike Gaara's inadequate seal with Shukaku, Taiyo was brand with a seal directly over his heart. Interesting…

Yonbi, now in control of Taiyo, looked like in a way like Naruto had during their minor mingling of chakras. Like Kyuubi's tails, a two pairs of leathery wings had grown from the green haired boy's back, as well as little feathers seemed to be pocking out of his hair.

"So how shall it be? Regular or extra crispy?" Kyuubi quipped, earning a few nervous chuckles from the shocked crowd above. "I've been told that fried lizard is just as good as fried chicken - and you're both, soIguess you'll go good with a side of lemon and garlic butter!"

The fox ignored the sound of Ron and Kiba seemingly gagging on their own tongues.

Yonbi growled, and it sounded more like a squawk. "How dare you kitsune-teme!" the insult was enough to make everyone sweatdrop. Were these really a pair of the Legendary Biju? Terrible demons that had once wreaked havoc throughout the lands? "I may have been a child a millennia ago, but I am not anymore! No more fox-in-the-hen-house jokes! Die!"

The four-winged cockatrice leapt forward, its killing intent skyrocketing as it let out a shrill the cut through the audience's eardrums. Back with the others, watching what was becoming the most hilarious demon fight ever, Sasuke frowned.

"Yonbi's female?"

Sora paused in mid giggle. "Isn't it great? Taiyo-baka has to deal with a female that suffers from demonic PMS in his head every month! Lulu has always wondered why his isn't insane like she is. His whole bravado is to cover up the fact that Yonbi likes to torment him by overloading him with estrogen when he least expects it! The poor bastard… Lulu and I have enough blackmail against him to last four lifetimes!"

It sight was comical. Yonbi was screaming, flapping its four wings at blinding speeds as it chased a hysterically laughing Kyuubi around the arena. The ninetailed fox had become red in the face from laughing to so hard, completely loosing its 'I-am-badass-look' as tears streamed down Naruto's face.

Inside his own mind, Taiyo was near sobbing with humiliation. The older boy would never be able to live this one down, not with Mikomi-sensei as evil as she was when it came to unmerciful teasing him when it came his demon's time of the month. The lizard-boy had been brought to rock bottom. As soon as that bloody cockatrice was back in its cage, he was going to take up the fox's idea of fried chicken and garlic butter…

And before anyone knew it, Yonbi gone Taiyo was back in his body, every limb suddenly suffering from the demon-induced strain of chasing another demon at blinding speeds. Kyuubi smirked, waving its nine tails about before they vanished, and Naruto regained control of his body as well.

The blonde couldn't help but feel sorry for the older boy.

Looking at the examiner, Naruto said, "I don't think he's in any condition to carry on…"

Yasha looked at the boy, watching Taiyo shudder and twitch. With a sigh, she waited a ten-minute countdown and when the green haired boy still didn't respond, she sighed heavily.

"Opponent unable to fight. Winner by default, Namikaze Naruto!"

Instinct befuddled, Kinomi didn't know whether she should fight, or forfeit.

Naruto was standing before her, still on a 'happy-high' after his hilarious 'battle' with Tokagero Taiyo. While she was still worried about Akumu-kun's condition, she had to admit that it had been rather funny watching the medic-nin drag the inert, twitching cockatrice vessel to the sidelines. She never knew that possessing one of the Legendary Biju could be so 'strenuous'.

But she couldn't worry herself on trivial matters like that. No, she had to fight and defeat her fair-haired friend.

"Match Five! Kinezumi Kinomi vs. Namikaze Naruto! HAJIMI!"

Kinomi wasted no time at all. Digging under her coat, the bespectacled girl lash out a long leather rope strung with over a hundred cured and polished chestnuts.

"Ninpou: Mai no Rasshu Kajitsu!" she yelled as she charging, she whipped the chain of nuts at the startled blonde, rapping him over the head. Hard.

Naruto let out a yell so loud that it echoed a dozen times of the closest walls. On top of his were a hundred mini goose-eggs, one for each of the impossibly hard chestnuts. She knew it took every ounce of him to overcome the concussion she just gave him and draw a pair of kunai for the counter offence of distracting her long enough that he could get his hands to form some seals.

"Sharikugan!"

His eyes blazed, the blue vanishing to the same milky whiteness of Hinata's, only with the small difference that he had two black tamoe dots spinning around each nonexistent pupil. She heard the gasps from the crowds, ignoring them as she tensed, watching Naruto drop roughly (because he had focusing more on how long it would be until he could eat some ramen) into the stance the Hyuuga's style the Gentle Fist that Hinata had deemed fit to teach him since he did after all possess one half of her clan's bloodline limit. But Kinomi knew that wasn't the pale-eyed girl's only reason. No, she had taught Naruto the style in order to gain so 'alone time' - time in which the squirrel-girl had teased her about till she was crimson.

Spinning her rope of chestnuts, Kinomi began to dodge Naruto's slightly less then skillful assault. They traded blows, both being overly careful to make sure they didn't hurt each other too badly or face the 'wrath' of a wolf-boy or a white-eyed heiress.

Finally she smirked. "You know what Naruto-kun?"

"What?"

"You mean that you haven't figured it out yet?"

"Hunh?"

Blonde looked positively puzzled, his expression showing his cluelessness.

"Well…" the ashen haired girl grinned as she moved forward, hands behind her back. "You haven't yet figured out that I have you trapped"

Naruto gapped. "What do you mean by that?"

She giggled, just enough to unnerve him, and to keep him from getting suspicious of the hand seals she was slowly forming. But then he suddenly narrowed his eyes, the veins reminiscing to his Byakugan aspect thickening.

"HEY!" he yelp, dropping into a defensive stance as soon as he saw the trail of her chakra snaking through the ground towards him and noticed that he had been unwittingly allowing her to lure him into a trap.

"Doton: Doryuudan no Jutsu!"

Kinomi took the chance when she had it and slammed her right palm upon the ground hard, and the earth behind her blonde friend erupted into a massive earth dragon. Naruto sprang backwards to avoid the earth dragon, leaving his back unprotected as he moved towards her, allowing her to pivot on one foot and smote with a snap kick to the butt.

The fox-boy was thrown forward by the blow and only missed being clobbered by her first attack when he dropped to the ground in an evasive roll.

"Itai…" he muttered, shacking off his vertigo and rubbing his tender rear. Turning back to her, the leaf-nin flashed his foxiest smile. "Touché Kinomi-chan. But it won't happen again!"

"Sure…" she giggle, watching with a pleased little smirk as his heckles rose.

"Then lets go wild! Taiyuu Shuriken Kage Bunshin!"

Kinomi let out a small eep as thousands of shadow clone throwing stars descended upon her. Her hands moving erratically, forming the seals of the first jutsu to pop into her mind.

"Doton: Shinjiuuzanshu no Jutsu!"

Naruto's eyes widened as the girl vanished. Gulping, he looked around for a bewildered second, before looking down at his feet in shock. "Kisama! Shunshin!"

Kinomi burst out of the ground seconds after that, narrowly missing her chance to snare his feet in he disappeared in a blur of yellow. She suppressed a whimper as her mind began to go blank. How was she supposed to beat Naruto?

"Iwawakarusa no Jutsu!"

A yowl filled the area again as Naruto sprang away from the girl, holding his right hand gingerly to his chest, his fingers bloody and broken. Kinomi released the jutsus, the stone warrior that had been in her place a second ago vanishing in a cloud of smoke.

"Don't you know it's a bad idea to punch a statue full force?"

The blonde shot her a withering look. "Akumu has been a bad influence on you! I miss the sweet Kinomi!"

"Ooh, the poor wittle chibi" she teased, blowing a raspberry at him. "Do you think I'm a meanie?"

"Not fair!"

She couldn't help but smiled. He looked so funny, pointing at her with his uninjured hand franticly as if her wanted to have a temper tantrum like some spoiled little brat. What she wouldn't have given to have him for a brother…

Family…

Her sisters…

Momentary forgetting her battle, the ashen haired girl's mind drifted, spiraling back to the last time she had seen her sisters…

"Please take me with you!"

A tall young woman, long brown hair cascading down her back turned, her once twinkling gray/blue eyes filled with great sadness. Staring up at her with a fierce determination was little girl no more then an eighth her size, ashen blonde hair tangled from dreaded morning bed-head.

"I'm sorry Kinomi-chan, but I can't. Its too dangerous"

"But but you'll let Aki and Natsu-baka go with you?"

The woman dropped to one knee, gathering the tiny child into her arms.

"Aki is chuunin now, so she has just as much right to go as I. Natsu… well Natsu has already been in the Academy for two and half years now. You are only five kiobito, I wouldn't be able to live with myself if you got hurt…"

"But Uxinta-oneechan - "

Footsteps sounded in the hall, and the little girl paused to look over her shoulder. Two girls stood behind them. The elder of the pair was a fair-haired blonde with bright blue eyes, her face miserably covered with the dreaded acne of puberty. The youngest of pair was a cooper-top, her green eyes reflecting eight years worth of mischief and beginnings of rebellion.

Seeing her other sisters ready to leave, little Kinomi let out a sob and buried her face into her eldest sister's hair, holding onto her like a lifeline.

"Remember this Kinomi-chan," Uxinta whispered into her ear. "Being strong doesn't always mean you have the great powers. True strength is what comes from the heart, and that's why the three of us have to leave. One day you will face a situation in which you'll make a choice for the betterment of another, even if you are the one more deserving at the time…"

"But how is this better for me?"

Aki answered.

"You will always be in our shadows. Only away from us can you achieve your true potential. Besides, Okaa-san and Otou-san would be devastated if all their children vanished on them. Okaa-san still hasn't gotten over Atori's death…"

"But - "

"Remember Kinomi-bozo," Natsu grinned, pulling the smaller girl out of the elder's embrace and proceeded in bestowing upon her a harsh noogie. "You're scrawny butt belongs to me! No one is allowed to beat you up unless I say so! That means only someone you deem as family has the right, because then I then I'll kick they're butt to the moon, and you know how much I love to do that!"

Kinomi couldn't deny that it would be funny to watch Natsu kick Naruto around. If she ever did find her sisters, it would be worth every second of it - she'd have to remember to bring popcorn…

"I forfeit"

"NANI?"

Naruto literately fell flat on his face.

"What are you doing?" he gasped, looking up at her with wide eyes as dinner plates. Apparently, hadn't suspected her to do a thing like that. But why not? People love a good mystery!

"I'm forfeiting," she grinned. "Because know a green-eyed devil that will do a lot worse to you, if ever you meet. And that will teach you for ever 'messing' with one of the Squirrly Girlies"

And with a giggle, she left the befuddled blond to stew in the impending horror.

"Match Six! Potteru Hari vs. Uchiha Sasuke! HAJIMI!"

Sasuke turned to Harry with a smirk. "You ready for this?"

"Of course! I've been waiting forever to get my chance to fight you!"

Harry sighed inwardly, slightly anxious to fight the one person whom Ron and Naruto had proclaimed his 'rival' as Sasuke took the moment square off, having weighed what he knew about the green-eyed boy's abilities against his own experience and range of techniques, not to mention his mysterious bloodline limit powers.

The silence was shattered by one loud whoop and both eager combatants moved in a fluid motion, each retreating for good attacking distance. For Sasuke, he disappeared and reappeared in a swirl of black smoke some twenty yard from where he started. Harry however leapt backwards, performing five back flips away to match Sasuke in distance. As they reappeared/land in unison, the dark haired pair dropped into their own respective stances and began forming seals.

Sasuke suddenly let go of the barrage of fireballs that was the Katon: Housenka no Jutsu. Harry easy countered the fireball barrage by summoning up a wind funnel, known as Fuuton: Me sano Boufuu no Jutsu, to redirect the fireballs back to their originator. Dodging his fireballs expertly, Sasuke was well out of harm's way when the ground around him became pockmarked.

Growling softy, Sasuke smirked.

"Get ready…"

Harry blinked. "Hunh?"

"Katon: Tsume no Kasairyuu no Jutsu"

It was almost too late when Harry realized what was happening. The pair of massive snarled fire hands with wicked claws began to descend upon him. Mind going momentarily blank, it wasn't until the last second that it began to function again. "Kamikaze no Kodate!"

A raging shield of wind formed around his body, effectively causing the clawed hands to be caught by the force and spin around his body like a mini tornado until the fire was dispelled.

Slightly singed from the fire that had inevitably gotten to him, the young wizard moved quickly at fastest speeds until he was behind Sasuke, all before the other boy realizing where her was and began forming seals for an attack of his own.

Smirking, Harry raised his right hand, index and middle fingers pointing skyward.

"Raiton: Hekireki Jitsuryoku no Jutsu!"

A jet stream of lighting left Harry's fingers, streaking up into the ceiling. Seconds later Sasuke whirled around in time to see a massive booming thundercloud appear overhead just as it released its load.

"Kisama!" he yelped as he found himself doing a literal tap-dance to avoid getting electrocuted by the many stray lightning bolts that raining down upon him (that and willing his face not to turn red from embarrassment as he heard Naruto and Ron's gales of obnoxious laughter through the din).

He was, however, too focused on fighting to keep his own pride that he missed one.

"Sasuke-kun, look out!"

The sound of Sakura's scream of warning caught his attention, but not in time for the last lighting bolt to strike down upon his unprotected rump. An undignified high-pitched squeal past his lips as his hands flew to cover his electrified posterior. Face burning with rage and embarrassment, he sent the most scathing look he could muster at grinning opponent.

"You bastard!"

"I can assure Sasuke that I know who my parents are"

The sound of cheering from their teammates in the stadium ranged from 'You get him Harry! Hit him while he's down!' to 'Don't go pansy on us now Sasuke! We know you're better then that!'

Ignoring the many distractions, Sasuke focused once again on Harry. "So you want to fight dirty huh?" he growled. "I'm down for that. Get ready to have your ass kicked!"

"Quid pro quo, Sasuke" Harry quipped back. "Quid pro quo!"

As soon Sasuke's onyx eyes suddenly became the brutal red of the Sharingan, allowing him to predict Harry's movements ahead of time, they both boy attacked. This time it was ninjutsu aside and full on taijutsu.

"Koutei no Ryuu!" Sasuke shouted, launching himself at the other boy, allowing himself to become aerodynamic as he leapt into a crescent kick. He only managed to narrowly catch Harry's left shoulder as the bespectacled boy somersaulted away.

"Hekireki no Mori!"

The Uchiha's eyes widened as his friend adapted to his own technique - the Thunder Lance. Before he could escape, he was stuck full on in the chest as Harry's feet struck home. Battered, Sasuke got to his feet quickly and returned the shot.

It went on for a good two minutes, as both styles were exceeding vicious, darning the user and their opponent of chakra in a back and forth tug-of-war until they would both collapse from chakra exhaustion.

But neither planed for that to happen any time soon.

Having not resorted to using his kekkei genkai, Harry had begun to take a beating - especially when Sasuke decided to introduce him to his Shishi Rendan. Bruised and bloody, the Boy Who Lived slowly began to formulate his last attack. He knew that he wouldn't be able to beat Sasuke if he kept up with what he was currently doing.

Concentrating chakra into his right hand, he struck out the Uchiha with his left fist while allowing his chakra enhanced to move so fast that Sharingan wasn't able to predict it's movement. Sasuke gagged dangerously as Harry karate-chopped him to the throat.

Stumbling backwards on aching legs, Harry grinned weakly as he wiped away some blood from his spilt lip.

"So, you really are as good as you say" he started, watching as the other boy circled him, looked for openings in his stance. "I can't continue to fight you this way or I'll loose…"

Sasuke stopped, his eyes widened. "Are you saying that you forfeit?"

An almost sadistic grin (one that would have made Anko proud) crossed Harry's face.

"Where did you get an idea like that? Why, after all this, would I do that? I only said that I couldn't continue to fight you the way that I was. My artillery of jutsus my not be as vast as yours, but I still have few tricks up my sleeves"

The dark haired boy snorted. "And what would those be? You barely have enough chakra left to keep standing, let alone summon up that bloodline limit I you have"

A grin quirked at the side of Harry's mouth.

"Do you think I care - I'm immortal remember"

There was silence again as all the spectators waited for what Harry would do.

"Do you think you have what it takes?"

Sasuke's red eyes hardened. "Give me your best shot and I'll give you mine! Katon: Nenshou Hisaki no Zetsumei no Jutsu!"

Watching with the rest of the remaining jounin, Kakashi and Obito gasped at what they saw. From Sasuke's mouth spewed hellish black fire that would be debated better classified as a Maton rather then a Katon jutsu. The black flames rose high, circling the boy. From that circle, a line of flames shot out from within to create a pentagram, trapping Harry within its heart.

The Uchiha sneered, his win obvious.

"Give up Harry! One touch of those flames and you'll be incinerated! Not even an immortal can stand up to that!"

More gasps could be heard from the audience.

"Is that supposed to scare me?" Harry retorted fearlessly from within the flames.

Sasuke could only gap at his friend's audacity

"Who are you trying to fool?" the green eyed youth continued. "I figure that this jutsus is borderline demonic - that means its an instant deathtrap right? You made it especially for your brother didn't you?" although he couldn't see the look on Sasuke's face, he sensed the surprise and outrage. "Well for your information, my guardian angel and I have working together on my understanding of my bloodline limit - one that gives me an affinity for electricity…"

Red eyes blinked.

"Prepare yourself…"

"Hijutsu: Raikouko no Tengokuheki!"

A massive lightning bolt tore free from above the two boys, striking Harry with the full force of its power rather then Sasuke. Positively crackling with electrical currents, Harry step through the hellfire, his cloths not even singeing.

And he was as radiant as light bulb as his skin glowed and his hair cracked with the left over lighting that coursed through his body, his charka level now through the roof.

"You see Sasuke," he laughed, his voice crackling. "While the Raidono fuels me with near unlimited charka to begin with, I'm and still learning to control its power, this I'll soon pass out. If you thought that my Thunder Force technique was bad, how are going to feel one you suffer an electrocution at a single touch?"

"But you'll kill me!"

"Not quite, but you'll be unconscious for a while - like a week - not to mention that you'll static charged for at least a month"

Sasuke ground his teeth.

"I will never - " was all he managed to say before he suddenly was cut short when an explosion rocked the stadium.

The shock wave was enough to throw the two battered boys to the ground. Gazing in the direction of the explosion, Sasuke and Harry exchanged worried glances at the sight and smell of thick acidic smoke and tingle of scorching heat.

They were joined on the arena floors seconds later, their friends standing with them to face the smoke and whatever it was that lay beyond.

Tensing, they waited.

And from the smoke a deafening howl could be heard and the rumble of the ground as it shook under the weight of a massive figure appearing from the dark clouds. More then several pairs of large piercing violet eyes, veined with green, glowed through the darkness as a beast with eight heads stepped out into the light.

There was only one word in regards to this development.

"Oh shit!"


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter Nineteen - In Which the Titians Clash

While everyone was frozen in a momentary state of shock, the colossal eight-headed dragon took a step forward and with a powerful swish of its mighty tail, it rendered half the stadium to rubble. Screams of pain resonated all over as lives winked out instantly under a mountain of pain. Nothing could be done as the monstrous demon continued to stalk forward, its scales of darkest jade shinning menacingly in the artic sun and bathing the beast in a terrifying glory.

In a show of power, the dragon reared back and blew eight jets of crimson flames from each almighty maw and took another threatening step forward.

"How dare you come here monster!" everyone watched in numbly as Yokoshima Yasha charged forward, the force of damnation written across her face. "One demon was too much, but two demons? That I will not permit!"

Mostly no one knew what in the hell she was talking about, but someone did.

"Yasha!" one of the snow-nin yelled. "Don't be a fool. It'll kill you, just like the demon before it killed your parents"

"Like I give a damn!"

"But - "

"I don't care. Maybe I drive the beast away with it and hopefully it kills me far away from here!" she roared, still rushing forward.

"How unfortunate for you," a cold voice sneering from nowhere said. "Because that's never going to happen - Avada Kedevra!"

There was no time for Yasha to react as a bright jet of sickly acid green light consumed her. She was dead before she hit the ground.

All present shinobi gapped in horror as they watched the fiercest of their comrades' fall, and a lone figure that appeared upon the one of the innermost heads of the dragon.

The light, that evil green light that just killed Yasha, cause Harry to cry out in pain as he clutched his head and fought against a painful flood of memories that scaled the backs of his eyes. He pain itself was so intense, even greater then that of his and Voldemort's connection through his scar, that he couldn't even hear the frantic shouting of his friends as he drowned in the terrified voices of a couple ringing in his ears.

Were they the voices of his parents? Were these the last words that they had said before their deaths?

'Avada Kedevra!'

"Such a pity…"

Harry's head snapped up as though he had been whipped, and found himself stringing into the gray eyes of an almost familiar face high above him.

"Lucius Malfoy!" Ron snarled, leaping forward on to be caught by the back of his vest by Harry. "Let me go Harry. Let me kick that slimy Death Eater's ass!"

"No Ron…"

The redhead gapped at him, but still struggled in his grip.

"He'll kill you Ron - just like he did to Yokoshima-san. And are you really so blind as not to see that he happens to riding an eight-headed dragon?"

"How perceptive of you Potter" the Malfoy patriarch leered.

"You're controlling it, aren't you?"

There was a short silence as all eyes turned to the young Rikkakage, his golden eyes hard and his expression grim.

"Leave it to one of you mind-manipulators to figure it out" the blonde man nodded. "But even your almighty bloodline powers didn't pick up on the anguished screams as your warriors were being slaughtered…"

Ginmaru ground his teeth and stepped forward.

"What do you want?"

"That should already be apparent" Malfoy chuckled darkly, his voice greatly accented as he spoke a language not his own. "We've come for demon vessels"

"We?"

The pale wizard didn't get a chance to answer.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

When the smoke cleared, all eyes widened as three figures could be seen standing atop three vast creatures. The first was a stag; seven feet tall and rippling with muscle. The second was an owl the size of small blimp with razor sharp talons. The third was a tarantula, exceedingly hairy and with the force of a bulldozer.

From upon the spider, Ron glowered, his wand drawn. "It's the Akatsuki isn't it? Only scum like you would have to alley yourself with the Akatsuki. You'll have to fight us to get them"

Following his lead in an act of defiance, every other shinobi that didn't have a summon animal formed a line before the three beasts, each drawing a respective weapon or assuming battle-ready stances.

"Very well…" Lucius replied with a hateful sneer, his expression hard. "If it's a fight you want, its fight you'll get"

From his look out atop Rikkakage Tower, Uchiha Itachi watching with silently as the blonde fool wizard instigated his attack.

Below them, the Death Eaters, loyal followers of the dark wizard Voldemort, along with some of the Akatsuki, battled against the opposing shinobi with their spells. As expected, both sides (the Death Eaters that is) were taking equal damage, which was a very good thing.

Everyone one in the organization, even their leader to an extent, detested Voldemort and his weakling lackeys. They had only put up with their agreement because the wizards had many tools at their disposal that were of great interest to their own goals. They also knew that the Dark Lord was using them to play up his hand in his own personal war with Orochimaru, and the Akatsuki was more then willing to aid the person that posed a 'threat' to their former member. These wizards had only three uses: 1) obtaining the Jinchuuriki - one in which they now possessed; 2) valuable information; and 3) cannon fodder. As powerful as they were, wizards were still weaker then shinobi.

"So Itachi-san," Kisame, his blue shark-faced partner asked, appearing next to him with a sated Samehada resting on his shoulder. "How long do you think he will last?"

Crimson eyes flashed.

"Not very long. That fool may think he and his comrades are powerful, but it was our doing that even allowed him to enter this village. All those wizards have done is throw a few curses - we took out the whole Yuki Anbu force. I don't give the man longer then an hour"

The two Akatsuki members continued to watch, Kisame's face lighting with mirth as Itachi's prediction became more likely as three summon beasts appeared within the large dome stadium. As Malfoy commanded the Hachibi forward, Kisame spoke again.

"'Unforgivable Curse' or no, I wonder how long Malfoy will able to maintain control the demon…"

"As do I"

As the chaos began, Hermione instinctively knew what she had to do. Silently urging her summon to move, the large owl began airborne, leaving the earth below and her friends to do what they knew they had to do. Without hesitation, they dived towards the ground, allowing the bushy haired girl only a second to snare the back of the Rikkakage's robes.

"What in the world - " the older man shouted as she used all of her strength to swing him up onto the back of her owl.

"I'm terribly sorry Rikkakage-sama, but there is little time to complain" Hermione found herself barking over her shoulder. "But if we are ever going to survive this attack, then you are going to have to use your Kamiomoi to confuse the demon! It the only thing that'll work!"

The Kage made no reply as they soared up into the sky, the icy winds whipping and burning their faces. From the air, they were witness to a devastating sight. The girl felt the hidden village's leader tumble ever so slightly. Building in the distance burned, oblivious the horrid work of the dragon demon before them.

It was terrible.

She remembered what Sakura had told her about Yuki. The pink haired girl had explained what she knew from a mission when she, Naruto and Sasuke had first become genin. There had been a fierce war here in Snow Country that had cost its inhabitants immensely. The war had whipped out a great number of shinobi, bringing the great village to its knees.

Even though Yukigakure looked prosperous when they had first arrived, it had only been like that less then a year, its surviving clans had in the mid-stages of attracting other small villages to come join them. The bustle had mainly been civilians and Academy students - a new beginning. Now it was going up in flames.

For a hidden village trying to revive itself, an attack by S rank missing-nin such as the Akatsuki or dark wizards like the Death Eaters was something that no one was ready for. They lacked trained fighters, and most of those who were trained were currently on missions. It was a slaughter.

"Don't surrender to misfortune!" she snapped, he words seemingly bring the man out of his stupor as they dodged a streamline of fire coming from the demon. "Are you one of the great Kage or not? If we win, then things can be repaired - that I promise you. But we will all die here today unless you the leader can be strong"

A soft chuckle was her reply.

"Audacious words young one, but none could be more true. Lead on!"

Suddenly three bolts of lightning tore from the air over to surround the dragon and she knew instantly that Harry had just used his secret attack. Preparing herself, Hermione drew her wand and fired. "Stupefy!"

A shout of rage followed.

"Fukusasha, you know what do" she shouted, and then stood, moving past the other passenger and forcing her chakra to stick herself fast to her flying summon.

"Very well Hermione-sama!"

Behind her she noticed that Lucius Malfoy had given up firing spells at the shinobi below him, and was now content to attack her with the aid of four of the Hachibi's eight heads.

With a grimace, Hermione gritted her teeth.

"Do you even know what you're up against?" a voice behind her shouted. "This is suicide!"

"Do you think I care?" she retorted fierily. "Its do or die milord!"

And she knew what she had to do.

'These spells will be gems among wizards and shinobi alike!'

That's what Ron had said during that they, the self-proclaimed shinobi wizards, had had a moment to themselves. During their spare time, Hermione and her friends had worked on creating super-jutsu spells that could only be used my someone that had both they're chakra network and magical core open to they're disposal. Gems to wizards and shinobi alike.

They would be.

And with a fierce resolute no one could brake, the bushy haired young witch raised her arms wide and focused her chakra and magic into ultimate attack that was her's alone to wield.

"Kijutsu Fuuton: Tengoku-taki Boufuu!"

It burst out of her like a braking damn, sending a searing agony through her body. Mammoth storm clouds surrounded the airborne team; massive tornados whipped their lashing winds as sharp as glass about them with dynamic force. And as she had predicted, the winds had been powerful enough extinguish the Hachibi's monstrous flames.

As her vision become fuzzy, Hermione only hopped that the Rikkakage would get done what he had to do, and fast.

'Foolish Human!'

The dragon jerked, and Lucius growled angrily as he felt the beast mentally straining against his Imperious Curse, nearly regaining control of its minds. It was an impressive creature - powerful - but pathetic. And he knew why. But that didn't matter. Although he was in control of the second most powerful demon under his control (thanks only to the intervention of the Akatsuki), it wasn't enough.

He watched the blonde boy, who along with the rest of the pestilence attacked, knowing that the miserable brat contained the strongest demon - the Nine-tailed Fox. He remembered that this boy was also the reason that Draco had been turned into a Muggle… although that whole fiasco had turned out to have its uses and it wasn't like Narcissa couldn't have another child…

'Breath fire'

'You are foolish to think you can control us!' one mind screamed, followed by a 'When we are free, you shall suffer like no other had suffered!' from another

'Do it!'

Casting a quick sticking charm on his feet to keep from being thrown off, he had the force all willpower one the key mind, and the rest crippled under his power and obeyed, spraying fire from each mouth down upon the 'insects' below.

"You won't get away this!"

Lucius looked turned, smirking at the sight of the Potter brat, slightly burnt from his demon's flames.

"And how do you propose to stop me?" he laughed, commanding the dragon lash out at the green-eyed boy with its tail, effectively sending the boy and his stag flying backwards.

"With a power far greater then yours! Guide me Ojikajame!"

Gray eyes widening, the elder Malfoy turned in time to watch in shocker surprise as the boy riding the massive charging stag lit up like a torch, one hand making those strange ninja hand signs while the other held his wand upraised to the sky.

"Kijutsu Raiton: Tentou Kanshiki!"

With a thunderclap, three jagged volts of electricity shot down from the sky, each striking the ground around the eight-headed demon and held fast. It created a triangle, then bolts began to jump wildly from each electrical pillar, shocking the dragon whist it blew fire and while he only just managed to cast shielding charms in time.

But that wasn't it, when it looked up; he noticed that the Mudblood Granger girl, her owl, and the village leader were attacking from above. He let out a bellow as she nearly caught him with a stunner, but then mere seconds later made her own attack, one that was very much like the Potter boy's, only this one was of air, not lightning.

This attack… it was magic…and chakra…

How could that be possible?

But his musing of shock was cut shot as something invaded his mind. He could literately feel it giving strength to his captive, and as it withdraw, he's connected to the demon's through the Imperious Curse ruptured in a burst of agony as he heard a chorus of ruthless and angry voices roar within his head.

'Wretched human!'

'You shall suffer for eternity!'

'As we tare you apart!'

'Piece by piece!'

'And as you're vile soul is consumed by the Shinigami!'

'We shall enjoy it greatly!'

'Forevermore!'

'NOW DIE!'

And with a terrified yelp, the pale blonde wizard with thrown bodily from the head he was standing up, eight sets of fangs flashing as they swooped down upon him. And as they tore into his body, he heard on last voice.

'Karma sucks, doesn't it?'

Kisame let out long barking laugh as he watched the blonde wizard get eaten by the dragon. It hadn't even taken more then twenty minutes after he had voiced his thoughts regarding the Malfoy's control over a demon. His beady shark eye alight with malicious glee, he turned to his partner.

"Now what?"

"We wait and see what happens" Itachi replied, not bothering to look at him. "If the remaining Death Eaters can't do their job, then we'll have to retrieve the Hachibi no Jinchuuriki before any discovers the truth"

The blue skinned man shook his head and turned away from the dark haired genius. Typical Itachi… always right that it made him sick.

"Knowing wizards, we'll be cleaning this up sooner then we think"

Naruto gasped heavily, hacking with his Kyuubi-enhanced strength as the demon's tail. He had been thankful for his friends that kept up a flurry of attacks to keep all of the eight heads and the blonde wizard distracted. It also helped immensely when Gaara awakened, summoning his sand to attack as well since he was still to drained from his battle with Akumu to do anything but guided any panicked shinobi in evasive and counteracting maneuvers.

Then before he could blink, both Harry and Hermione had used those jutsu. A fierce windstorm coupled with lightning had done the trick. He gapped in shocked amazement as the demon reared, throwing Malfoy into the air and eight head instantly fighting over which one got to eat him.

It was a bloody death.

But the victory was short lived as scream tore through the torn stadium.

He whirled around, facing the direction of the scream and found that hadn't been only Lucius Malfoy attacking them. Battling with the remaining combatants was a group of men, garbed in back robs wearing white skull masks. And a pair had converged on Hinata and Kinomi's impromptu tag team of protecting Akumu and the wounded, the latter of the two girls floored by something terrible pain.

So these were the Death Eaters that Ron had mentioned.

Even with their leader gone, they were still loyal to Voldemort's cause, and continued to attack. All in the hopes of starting another war no doubt. There was very little time to concentrate when one feared so desperately for their most precious persons. His eyes stinging from the strain of using his bloodline limit, he abandoned his original fight.

On the other side of the large stadium, two girl were all that stood between the Akatsuki gaining one of the Jinchuuriki - more importantly, one of the Inherited.

"You l-leave him alone!" Hinata shouted, trying her best with Kinomi's aid, and keep the other Death Eater away.

The robed man only laughed harshly at her, firing some more words in a foreign language that brought jets of light out of tip of a wooden stick. Magic was what Naruto had told her it was called. Sidestepping the intended curse, she lunged forward and managed to drop on of the men by kicking him between the fork in the legs. It was a dastardly blow, but by all means effective.

"You despicable little harlot!" the man bellowed, his mask falling away to reveal the meaty face of what could only be called a thug.

"Kill her now you fool!" the other shouted, but it was a woman this time - which just so happened to be a shinobi at that - hit Kinomi with a jutsus that sent her into writhing screams.

"Petrificus Totalus!"

Hinata's mind shrieked with sudden fear as her body froze, and she was unable to move as the thug she had just canned stood, albeit painfully, and pointing his stick at her.

"Avada - "

Oh no! This was the same spell that had killed Yokoshima-san! Unable to wince openly, she braced herself for evitable death.

"NO!"

" - Kedevra!"

And Naruto was unexpectedly in front of her, blocking her from the eradicating acid green light.

With a growl, Ikameshii Kiraihana was fiercely pleased with herself. Even if she died today, at least she would be able to that Kinomi brat. Focusing all her power into strengthen the amount of pain the ashen haired girl was feeling from her pain jutsu, a smirk of triumph came to her lips.

No of this could have happened if it wasn't for her - the one that had let the Akatsuki and the Death Eaters into Yuki for the chance to kill one of her students.

In the guise of a Death Eater, she and the wizard she had been partnered with attacked the squirrel-girl and her Hyuuga friend. She practically tuned out the world around her as she stopped her jutsu and lifted the inert girl into the air by the front of her coat.

"Time to die Kinomi-yaro"

The girl's stormy blue eyes widened behind her broken spectacles.

"Kiraihana-sempai?" she gasped, unable to struggle.

Removing the mask, the harsh faced stone-nin glared deeply down at her soon-to-be-former pupil.

"Why of course. I made an oath that you would suffer and now its time to finish the job"

Kinomi whimpered. "But w - "

Not letting the little brat distract her from her goal any longer, Kiraihana withdrew a kunai and as fast and hard as she could, slashed madly at the girl's unprotected throat.

Sasuke, Sakura, and Inner Sakura whirled around at the sound of someone's agonized screaming. They had been in the middle of fighting with some of the Death Eaters prepared to kill them in order for the demon to tare apart Yukigakure.

"Kisama! Its Hinata and Kinomi!"

They watched in what seemed like slow motion as the Kinomi screamed in pain, clutching her head, and Hinata lashed out, only to be frozen by man she had attacked. And from out of nowhere, a streak of yellow appeared before the indigo haired girl just as a bolt of green light shot out her. It was only then that they realized that Naruto had left their side.

"NO!"

And time stopped.

When time started moving again, the green light was deflected and headed for the sky, while Naruto, in a hybrid form of his Animagus form, hand his clawed hand on the wizard's head, his mask removed so that one could see that his skin had taken on a grayish tinge. He removed his hand, and still the man didn't move. It was only when they ran up to his side that they discovered the Death Eater had been turned to stone.

It was astounding.

But that wasn't all. As the blonde turned to them, swaying drunkenly on his feet, Sasuke caught a glimpse of Naruto's eyes before he fainted.

They had changed.

Again.

They weren't the normal blue; they weren't the feline blue; they weren't the feline red; and they weren't the Sharikugan either. Naruto's eyes had sported a new appearance altogether. The irises had become a haphazard collage of black/red and white - almost like an inverted dartboard, or maybe a chessboard. It looked as though a cross ran through the pupil, separating the black and white spectrums equally.

He knew instantly that they had to be the Mangekyou's benevolent twin.

So while he was shocked still, Sakura had taken it upon herself to catch the blonde as he toppled over and Inner Sakura to cast the counter-curse to freeing Hinata from her bindings.

It was only then did they remember Kinomi.

"KINOMI!"

They all turned just in time to watch the woman that was her sensei throw her aside like a rag doll, her delicate slashed beyond repair.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter Twenty - Uncalled for Vengeance

"KINOMI!"

Hinata screamed as she watched Kinomi give off a gurgling cough and then collapse in a boneless heap. The first to regain her senses, Hinata putting everything aside and ran as fast as her feet would carry to her fallen friend. A foreign rage filled the indigo haired girl's heart as Kiraihana, the wicked sensei of Kinomi's team, locked eyes with her.

They were hollow, showing her that the murky depths of a woman more forgone then she had ever seen. Her expression was non-existent, as though she were a zombie or a marionette on strings. Her gaze shifted away from her as she looked down at the bloody kunai in his hand, and then she smiled - a long and satisfied smile that sickened Hinata at the very sight

Solely focused on her defeat of the girl she hated, the stone jounin was slow in her reactions as the pale-eyed girl lunged forward and landed a palm strike to chest, directly above her heart. It only took a second, but in that second that was a thousand years, she met and felt the intense pain of her own death as her heart's tenketus was forcibly closed, her life snuffed like a candle.

Not even reacting to the fact that she had just killed someone, a jounin no less, Hinata dropped to Kinomi's side, tears pouring down her face. Upon investigation, she noticed that the front of her coat was already thickly covered in blood, all of which was still sluggishly pouring for multiple slash wounds upon her neck. Even with her internal medicinal saps, Kinomi's wounds just weren't sealing themselves.

"Trauma…"

Hinata looked up and stared back into a pair of murky eyes.

Daikyokuzan Azuke.

Too started to put the pieces together, she blinked. "Ano?"

The salt and pepper haired boy sat in a wheelchair, surprisingly unharmed by the fighting that been taking place, since everything seemed to have come to a stop.

"Too much trauma," he repeated, he voice creepily monotone. "Her regenerative capabilities are working overtime. She's going to die…"

"W-why! Why did she do this? What did s-she ever do to you?" the Hyuuga heiress suddenly found herself screaming, startling all those around her by the display.

Azuke blinked, looking at her owlishly, the laughed bitterly. "Why did she do this?" he sneered. "Revenge of course. That is one thing my sensei and I shared…"

"Revenge? For what?" Hinata didn't even bother to look at him as she reach forward, gingerly touching the restorative yellow sap that was fighting to seal the wound. Tears streaming down her face, she had no idea what do.

Looking up once more, she found that Naruto and all of her comrades had surrounded the three grounded shinobi, but it was Akumu's eyes that showed the most fury. With a snarl, the white haired boy hefted the stone-nin up by his neck and held him aloft.

Due to his paralysis and stunned state, Azuke couldn't have kicked even if he had wanted to.

"Tell us," the wolf-boy growled, his tone deadly.

The boy in his hands cocked his head to the side.

"Kiraihana-sempai" he replied, though the words were slightly garbled by tightness around his neck. "Took Nuke-tsuin's death harshly and it drove her past her limits, further yet then myself because of the years of experience she gained during her tenure as a shinobi. My brother and I had become like the sons she never had, and she was determined to not to loose either of us. Everyone she had ever cared for had died during the last Great Shinobi War, and her thirst for vengeance could never be quelled. Even when she was forced into taking on a genin team, she brightened to an extent in our presence, but she always frowned upon Kinomi-baka"

Akumu chocked him harder.

"Why?"

"Because of how her best friend, Kinezumi Uxinta, abandoned her. Even though they were many years apart in age, those to had been close friends. When the Kinezumi and her two other sisters became missing-nin, Kiraihana-sempai made an oath that she would do everything in her power to make the youngest sister of her former best friend's life miserable. Like the obedient subordinates that we were, Nuke and I followed suit"

Unable to breath, Akumu let the boy drop with a thud back into his wheelchair, but kept his eyes trained on him. Unable to leave, Azuke just looked up into the angry eyes staring down at him.

"So when I was released from the hospital, I found my sensei consorting with pair of strange looking me. Dressed in robes, they bore no insignia of any village. Kiraihana-sempai helped the strangers into Yuki. Since she wanted Kinomi-baka dead so badly, she was willing to do anything. I wanted to kill her myself, but I guess I don't get the chance"

Enraged, Akumu simple struck Azuke upside the head, knocking the boy out for further interrogation. He turned and looked down at Hinata who was growing ever more miserable, looking as though she was going to snap.

"Someone h-help her… p-please…"

As if to answer her plea, in a burst of light and song, Fawkes the Phoenix appeared before her. Everyone within the vicinity gasped, watching with awed wonder as the beautiful fiery bird cocked its head to one side and began to cry. Pearly white tears welled up and dripped free, landing with soft plips on Kinomi's torn throat.

And then a miracle happened.

The laceration began to shimmer, literately healing at a visible pace the damage was being quickly repaired. When it was complete, Kinomi's neck didn't so any sign of having been slashed whatsoever, once again pale and flawless.

Fawkes then looked up into Hinata's own teary eyes and cooed.

"A-arigatou"

The phoenix graced her with a bird's version of a knowing smiled, nodded, and then vanished once more in a burst of flames. After it was gone, breaths of relief were the only sounds disturbing the silence.

"Arigatou Hinata-chan…"

The pale-eyed girl looked up into Akumu's face.

"W-why are you thanking me?" she whispered.

"Because," he smiled softly. "You summoned a phoenix to save Kinomi-chan, and only someone that is brave and pure of heart can do a thing like that. I am in your debut"

Before she could say a word, the white haired boy bent down and lifted the unconscious girl up into his arms.

"Come. Lets get the injured to the hospital"

"Bloody hell!"

Everyone turned at the bellow of shock coming from Ron and suddenly remembered the Hachibi. What met their shocked eyes as a slow de-transformation of the massive creature. They watched as Hermione and the Rikkakage returned to the ground with the owl, the summon creature vanishing moments later.

"Its not a demon after all" Ginmaru said, his words still shocking the audience. "When I was trying to incapacitate its eight minds, I came across a ninth - it's a Jinchuuriki!"

Before their eyes they watched as the eight heads shrank and vanished, the jade-scaled body becoming that of boy with pale blonde hair. For those who did not know him personally, they recognized him as a younger version of they man that had attacked them at the start.

As the boy collapsed, and it was almost painfully obvious that he wasn't going to turn completely back to normal. His hale skin hard almost scaly shimmer to it; his hand remained the monstrous hooked claws, and spikes identical to what the dragon demon's decorated his spine and arms.

"Draco Malfoy!"

"Now what?"

Itachi glared at Kisame.

"Nothing"

"What!" the shark man yelped. "What do you mean by that?"

The crimson-eyed teen growled.

"We cannot get the wizard Jinchuuriki back. Malfoy failed to kill the Hara and all the Death Eaters are dead. We are outmatched"

Gapping the older man didn't know what to say, but he knew they would be in deep shit when they returned. Instead of capturing three Jinchuuriki, they had lost them, along with a fourth that they had had in their control for just over three months. The leader was not going to be happy with this.

Not happy at all.

- Two Days Later -

Gathered in Rikkakage Tower, surrounded by a small assembly of surviving chuunin and jounin, Hara no Ginmaru, the Rikkakage of Yukigakure sat listening intently to the voices of his subordinates. It had been two days since the attack on Yuki had ended, and the survivors were given their chance to heal. That leaf-genin had been right about one thing - they had been able to save the village from ultimate destruction by staying focused.

Even with the devastation the Akatsuki and their wizarding allies had caused, much had been saved. After the battle had been won, and it had been discovered that the Hachibi no Hachimata was merely a Jinchuuriki being controlled, he had taken the time to watch what had transpired after.

Those kids… were amazing.

"We have, Rikkakage-sama," one of the present jounin announced. "Conclude our assessments. Taking both the exams and the attack into account, we have deemed four genin worthy of the chuunin rank"

He nodded. "Very good. And who might I ask have you chosen?"

One of the newer chuunin stood.

"Our first candidate is Hyuuga Hinata of Konohagakure. We demeaned the leaf-genin worthy of promotion to chuunin rank for her valiant efforts in protecting those who had been wounded during the attack, and for her interrogation of the Daikyokuzan boy, the teammate of the girl injured and stone-nin that was crippled during the preliminaries. She let know who betrayed us"

"Out second candidate is Kinezumi Kinomi of Iwagakure. We deemed the stone-genin worthy of promotion to chuunin rank, although she was very nearly killed, for her own valiant efforts in protecting the genin and civilians rendered unconscious during the exams and the start of the attack. If it weren't for her, many more lives would have been lost. On a plus side, she was also save by the blessing of a phoenix, and that accounts for something"

"Our third candidate is Namikaze Naruto of Konohagakure. We deemed the leaf-genin worthy of promotion to chuunin rank for his aid in transferring non-lethal chakra to those who had nearly exhausted their recourses. Eyewitness accounts say that he proved that he would be willing to sacrifice his own life for an other's, such an example of this was his defense of the first candidate"

"Our final candidate is Sabaku no Gaara of Sunagakure. We deemed the sand-genin worthy of promotion to chuunin rank due to manner of authority and strategical prowess. Even thought the boy was unconscious for most the battle, he remained calm and collected awake amidst the fray. Since he was unable to participate due to lack of chakra - demon powers or no - he took a command of those who were panicking and directing them towards the best possible outcomes"

Ginmaru nodded. The explanations were acceptable.

"Good. So you are certain that these four are truly worthy of becoming chuunin?"

"Yes Rikkakage-sama!"

"Very good" he smiled, and nodded again. "But I have one more candidate to add to the list myself"

Everyone went silent, wondering excitedly who they're leader had personally chosen.

"Although my candidate was one of the unfortunate few that did not manage to pass the preliminary rounds last month, I believe I have a solid argument in the case of making such an allowance"

Shocked whispers bloomed through the crowd.

"The fifth candidate shall be Garangeru Herimione of Konohagakure. I believe the leaf-genin more then worthy of promotion to chuunin rank for the display that I personally witnessed. She did, without hesitation, predict that the fastest way to victory would be to take out the demon threat. With excellent logic, she discerned that the only way to stop the beast would be the use my kekkei genkai, which she had seen the effects of thanks to Risika-meichan. She knew that I wouldn't be able to stop it myself unless she removed from the battle via her summoned owl, and thus risked her life to watch my back to give me the time to enter the demon's mind. That in itself was good and well, but she also brought me out of my shock of seeing the destruction caused to the village and had me focus on the task at hand, which was to save as many lives as possible by incapacitating the demon"

There was silence.

"Do I have any objections?" he smirked.

No one answered.

"So it then" Ginmaru nodded. "From this day Hyuuga Hinata, Kinezumi Kinomi, Namikaze Naruto, Sabaku no Gaara, and Garangeru Herimione are promoted to the rank of chuunin"

He knew the world around him was cold even before he opened his eyes to see the ice. There he was, alone in deserted stone corridor of what appeared to be the dungeon bowels of a castle ruin. Torches gave some light to the surroundings, allowing him to see the thick layer of ice that slicked the walls and thinned green icicles hung from the cracks in the stone ceiling. He had been here only one time before. The memory of it wasn't something he relished, but rather something he wished to never experience again. However, there had to be a reason behind his return and he was about to find out.

Breath billowing out in small clouds before him, Draco Malfoy followed the corridor, and ventured deeper into the blackening abyss.

After what seemed like hours of walking, corners, dead-ends, and vicious booby-traps, he reached a fine scalped archway and the massive wooden doors that would lead to last place in the world he wanted to be. But he could feel the heat seeping through the cracks in the door, and his body, frozen as it was, demanding to be warmed and refusing to let him stand around lollygagging.

Compelled forward by his mutinous limbs, he reached out and opened the doors.

"So brat, what brings you back to our nest?"

He winced at the harshness.

"Seeking answers, that one is" another voice.

"Pathetic wizard hatchling. Tell me again… why do we even let him live?"

"Because we'd die with him you baka!"

"I am not a baka!"

"Yes you are!" seven voices chorused as one. "We ashamed to have you as brother! You are our dobe after all!"

A sigh past Draco's frozen lips as he ran a pale hand through his white blonde hair. Entering the room fully, he stood before a massive dragon, its green scales glowing in the firelight, large chains tied eight necks down to the steel hoop on the floor decorated with ruins.

It also had every one of its eight pairs of eyes all trained on him.

'Why me?' he bemoaned miserably, dropping next to one of the fires to warm up.

"'Cause hatchling," on of the many heads replied. "Karmic debts always have a way of catching up with you no matter how sneakily you avoid them - we are testament of that otherwise we wouldn't be here!"

'I didn't mean that dammit!' Draco cried suddenly. 'You bloody well ate my father! I can still taste blood in my mouth! Its sickening!'

Laughter ran out around him.

"Sheesh. What's up with hatchlings these days?"

He felt himself poked in the side by large snout.

"Don't tell me you didn't like the taste" one of the heads teased as he looked up, a nasty grin on its scaly face.

'That's just problem' Draco growled. 'I did like it…'

"Well, then there's hope for you yet"

'Hunh?'

And then everything suddenly vanished, leaving the blonde to tumble down into never-ending darkness. He fell, and searched out the light at the bottom. He felt in himself 'land' with a thud back into his body, a shudder rippling through him as his icy skin became truly warm again.

"Hey everyone! He's wakening up!"

Draco groaned, his temples throbbing painfully like a maddening drumbeat as shrillness of that voice practically caused his ears to bleed. He struggled to move, his body feeling like dead weight. He tried to sit up, but to his horror, found his limbs restricted the bed he lay upon and panicked.

His eyes refused his commands to open, only causing his to become even more terrified. His dream meeting with the eight-headed dragon vanished and only the images of memories came back to him - terrible things that had haunted him nightly for months.

Chocking, he wrenched and thrashed at his restraints like a wild animal, the memories of his six months of torment coming back to his like he had just thrown head first into the Black Lake at Hogwarts. He let out an unbidden sob of unadulterated fear, forgoing his pride in the face of facing his nightmares again.

A hand suddenly settled on his shoulder. "Calm do boy," the voice that belonged to the hand commanded. "Its over now. Relax"

"W-w-w-will you t-take them o-off?" he cried, unable to help of stutter. With what he had gone through, maintaining his pride didn't matter anymore. "Th-they a-always ma-made me wear chains!"

"Yes, just promise me you wont do anything rash"

Whispers echoed through the room.

"V-very well"

As his felt the restraints being removed from his hands only, he finally managed to get his eyes to listen. It didn't go well at all as the heavy lids lifted, and to his dismay; he was practically blinded by the light. Let out a cry of pain, he slapped his hands over them to block out the light.

He should have remembered how sensitive they had become…

When at last the pain had past, Draco took the risk of uncovering them. The world looked as if a sheet had covered it as his eyes slowly began to focus. The whispers around him increased, allowing the boy to deduce that six others, aside from the first two voices, where also in the room with them.

"Okay now," the aforementioned Kakashi, a strange looking man with silver hair and near completely cover faced, said. "Why don't you start from the beginning?"

He shrank back, thoroughly intimidated.

"But w-where should I start?"

"How about when you tried to kill Naruto?" someone snapped, he was shocked to see that the familiar voice belonged to none other then Ronald Weasley.

'Are those white streaks in his hair?'

He watched as the silver haired man shot a withering glare at the Weasley boy, and to Draco's surprise, it shut him up. But that glare was only cast at himself seconds later. As soon as he and the Weasel were silenced, everyone turned back to him. He took in everyone around him. Weasley, Potter, Granger, Uchiha, Haruno, Uzumaki… and a ghost of all things.

A tired sigh slipped past his defenses and Draco slumped forward, his head resting his hands, trying to avoid the claws.

"I guess that's as good a place as any," he replied bitterly. "Well, the night before that happened, I was visited by a fearsome creature with red eyes and I can assure you that I've never been more terrified in my life. It told me I had to instigate a 'test' on one of the foreign kids, and was told that if I disobeyed, it would kill me itself. I had no choice. Like any person not accustomed to the fact that they might die any day, I was determined to live, so I did what was demanded of me. Little did I know then that the red-eyed beast had actually been my father's master…"

Draco coughed, swallowing to clear his dry throat.

"When the explosion nearly killed Naruto, not to mention the whole class, I knew the extent of the test and it sickened me. That single incident had caused me more grief then if I had let Voldemort kill me in the first place. After the Ministry had closed off my magical core, I figured that being rendered no better then a Muggle, father would toss me out of the manor. For the last six months, I have been wishing he would have…

So instead father forced me to undergo more than a dozen strange tests, as if trying to figure out what made me tick. I ceased being his son that day; rather, I had become an experiment. I couldn't even recognize myself after four months of endure the torment he put me through. When the experimentations finally let up, and hope as I might, I figured they had finally come to a stop. How wrong I was. The only reason father had had stopped was because he had run out of things to do to me. For some reason, he couldn't seem to break me or extract whatever it was he wanted out of the whole ordeal. My peace didn't last long, however, because that's what brought the Akatsuki to Malfoy Manor. Apparently Voldemort had been making deals with them, and through that, one of their members created a golem of him original body for him to inhabit. For me, they're presence only made things worse"

"Did you know you were a Jinchuuriki before this?" Naruto asked.

He shook his head.

"No. It was the one that looked like you," he said, pointing at Sasuke. "Discovered that there was something amiss inside me, thus I learned the secret that my parents had been keeping from the world - that I was the vessel of the Eight-headed Dragon. As I would soon discover, mere days before I was born a mysterious man came to my parents. He offered them the chance to raise a weapon of great power. Knowing my parents, they greedily accepted. Following the stranger's instructions, mother and father began the ritual of sealing the dragon demon inside of me. So now you know why I'm named Draco…"

The blonde sighed, and then wriggled slightly so he could hook his clawed fingers under the hem of his shirt, and pulled it up. Everyone in the room gasped at what they saw. Emblazoned like a rope around his waist was an intricate tattoo of incredible artistry. Unlike the seal on Naruto's stomach, Draco's seal was full of color and detail. Since the sealing of the Hachibi had been the wizard's equivalent of the shinobi way, a Celtic chain wrapped itself around abdomen. Eight runic symbols decorated the chain, acting to lock the beast inside the boy away.

Out of all those present, it was only Hermione that noticed something of significant about his seal - the ends of chain joined together at his back. Those who have chains adorning their flesh are curse to remain soul-bound to mortal realm even after death.

When he began to feel uncomfortable, Draco pulled his shirt back down.

"All my life I had never known it was there. Apparently mother had cast a power Notice-Me-Not charm on it so that I would never see it. If things had gone as they planed, I would have been told, but unfortunately my parents realized that something was wrong by the time I turned four. I vaguely remember their utter disappointment that day. In one of the few contacts I've had with the demon, it let me know that it had had placed a further seal of it's own in order to spite the humans that had jailed it. While it was locked inside me, I was locked away for it. I am thankful it did what it did, or I might have gone insane…"

He trailed and pointedly ignored them by looking out the infirmary window. Snow fell silently beyond the crystalline glass. This place…

"But what happened when the Akatsuki came?" finally it was Hermione who asked the question, drawing him out of his reveries and causing him to shiver inwardly at the stern look on her face.

"Yes," Sasuke nodded, adding his own thoughts as well with a dangerous tone and narrowed eyes. "You said that it was my brother that discovered your parent's secret, so I demand to know what happened"

Draco let out a long and bitter laugh at that. "What does it look like!" he snapped, holding up a hooked hand out for the dark haired boy. "That bastard and companions took the pleasure of augmenting me in the 'perfect tool'! When my magic had been blocked, the Eight-headed Dragon had no power source to connect to. It had opened the minimalist crack in my dormant, what do you people call it, chakra network? Or at least that's what it said it did. He noticed that I had charka readings instead of magic readings. They've hunted the Tailed Demons for as long enough to know when they're in the presence of a vessel"

"Yeah, about that" Harry said, his tone far away and slightly amused. "Why does it have eight head rather then eight tails?"

"You're asking me?" he gasped. "I'm not exactly on speaking terms with the beast - all of its heads went to eat me!"

While Ron and Sakura laughed their asses of at that one, it was Naruto who answered.

"Kyuubi tells me that the during the ancient days, both the Yonbi and the Hachibi traded their tails. The Yonbi chose to have four wings, whereas the Hachibi chose to have eight heads"

Draco gapped. The blonde idiot carried a demon too? No wonder Voldemort's plan to kill him didn't work. But it was also then that he couldn't be more thankful for the sunshine haired fool in that single moment then ever before.

"Anyways," he continued sardonically. "Since father couldn't go against Lord Voldemort's dealings with the Akatsuki, I was handed over to them. When they discovered that the demon couldn't be extracted from me do to the magic used to seal it, they decided it would be best to have their hand in making me a tool. I've spent the last two months becoming like this,"

He gestured to the other changes; the spikes that trailed down his spine and arms; the unnatural shimmer and hardness to his skin that denoted scales hiding just under the flesh; the fangs and eyes; and even his ears - nothing was scared!

"Well…" it was Kakashi that finally spoke. "Since you are under our jurisdiction, you becoming coming back with us to Konoha in few days. Just remember, you don't have a choice in the matter"

Draco groaned. His life couldn't get any worse… could it?

Akumu sighed, seated at a still sleeping Kinomi's bedside.

Inside, the young wolf-boy felt miserable. Gobi, who he had come to see as a best friend and big brother, was gone. He left the gapping void in which the demon had once resided, and it only served to magnify the feeling of being so utterly alone.

He had left Kinomi side only once in the last two days, leaving her only long enough to go see his family. Bitterly, they had rejected him, completely convinced that he was some evil demon that they had to destroy. If it wasn't for Shoushin and Risika, they would have killed him. Since he was unwelcome in the only home he had ever known, Ginmaru-sama had agreed to let the boy go, relieving him of his post as a Yuki shinobi if he was willing to allow the Rikkakage to remove all information from his mind that could be used against the village.

He agreed.

His sensei and teammates had been shocked by his decision, but it had been his to make. He had choose to go wherever Kinomi chose to go, since he knew that she would not be going back to Iwa after what her sensei had done to her. He looked down at the girl he had grown found of in the last mouth, and was saddened by who much pain that she herself had endured as well. So it seemed that with their friendships with Hinata and Naruto, the pair would most likely travel back with the leaf shinobi back to Konoha and plead for asylum.

Besides, wolves and squirrels belong in the trees.

And as if she had known he was waiting for her, Kinomi stared and opened her eyes.

"Akumu-kun?"

"Hey beautiful"

- Four Days Later, Rikkakage Tower -

"We have come to the final conclusion, that after the events of the attack a week ago, that five genin amongst those to participate in the Chuunin Exams will be promoted to chuunin. Without further a due, I'd like to congratulate Hyuuga Hinata, Namikaze Naruto, Kinezumi Kinomi, Sabaku no Gaara, and under special circumstances, Garangeru Herimione, in their achievement!"

A loud squeal of excitement rocked the tower dangerously.

Hermione could be seen jumping up and down like she was high on sugar or something, and hugging Kiba till the poor boy was blue in the face at the same time. Upon hearing the announcement, both Hinata and Kinomi had fainted dead on the spot, conveniently into Naruto and Akumu's arms. Naruto, holding onto Hinata, could only gap numbly and wonder how in the hell he had received the promotion - not to mention how he was going to raze Sasuke later that he become chuunin first. Gaara had remained impassive as always, but if you looked closely enough, you'd feel the air of smugness.

"Figures 'Mione would become chuunin even though she didn't pass the preliminaries" Ron had groused. "Never once have I seen her fail a test, and I never will!"

That only got him a smack upside the head, or two actually, as both Hermione and Kiba bopped the boy for the insult.

The following day heralded the departure of Gaara and team back to Sunagakure, and Sora along with her team back to Kusagakure. It was a sad goodbye for Harry (who in privet cried a comical river of tears) who was loosing his sweetheart even though they promised to exchange letters frequently. Once he and friends were the only teams remaining to leave Yuki, they were not overly shocked to discover that Kinomi was abandoning Iwa (though she did send only a sorry note to her parents with one of Hermione's owls with a promising that she would find her sisters) and Akumu, who been dismissed from Yukigakure in order to follow the girl he loved.

So it seemed that the original number of people that had journeyed to Yuki a month and a half ago had expanded for the return trip. Of the nine genin, two jounin, and a chuunin ghost, had become seven genin, five chuunin (including ghost), two jounin, and a civilian. Not to mention that Naruto had a thrill at the thought of the villager's reaction when they found out that the number of Jinchuuriki had tripled thanks to Akumu and Malfoy - the only time that he couldn't be more thankful for the pale haired bastard then ever before.

It was dawn as they began their return journey through the artic tundra of Snow Country. Thankfully it wasn't as bad as the coming since the spring had finally asserted itself - Ron all the while boosting, since it had been his thirteenth birthday only days before, that his wish had come true. Yet the jovial feelings didn't last long because as they neared Konoha, a feeling of dread began to work knots in their stomachs.

"Is it just me, or do you have the feeling that something very bad has happened?" Malfoy had asked when they had reached the last quarter of their journey.

Such was the irony of that understatement.

The atmosphere when they arrived back in Konoha was somber at best, and grave at worst. Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura were beyond shocked when they their ensemble was met by Tsunade and Shizune. They were puzzled enough by the air of misery that the sight of the two medic-nins that they had met at Hogwarts worsened it.

"Hey obaa-chan! What are you doing here?"

Malfoy let out a strangled cry and hide himself behind Hermione of all people at the mere sight of the voluptuous blonde. But Tsunade didn't concern herself with the shock at see the pale blonde she detested her in her home village when she caught sight of him.

Instead, she went strait to business.

She explained quickly, filling in the details with their own dealing with the attack Yuki and the happening that they had been oblivious during their month abroad. Shock and outrage coursed through the group as they were told that Orochimaru had once again the Sandaime the same day as the attack, but wasn't able to kill so settled in landing the old man in coma.

That whole incident had caused a chain reaction, ending with her own forced-acceptance into become the Godaime Hokage only days afterwards.

"You know" Ron had said, surprising everyone. "Its in times like these that we need all the help we can get. I've finished the final touches of bloodline limit resurrection spell I've been working on ass off for these last few months on. That means I'll be able to bring Obito and the other spirit back to life!" turning to his friends, whom he knew already would help, said. "Find whoever else that will be willing to help and meet me at the graveyard"

Setting out, they all had a resurrection to prepare.

Gathered around a roughly drawn circle of at least twenty feet in diameter, Ron was pleased that more volunteers then he had imagined had showed up. Aside from Teams Seven, Seven ½, Eight, Ten, and Nine, with the inclusion of Akumu, Kinomi, and surprisingly Draco - the pale boy flippantly saying that he wanted to see something the impossible.

"Okay!" Ron shouted. "Lets get this show on the road! Now for those of you who don't know any better, I am going to be bringing two people back from the dead tonight. Since there are so many of you, it would be wonderful if you could pitch in so I wont be suffering from chakra exhaustion in the morning"

Directing everyone to different positions, he continued.

"Now the twelve of you standing on the twelve marked spots on the circle represent the zodiacal signs. Shino is the Rat; Hermione is the Ox; Tenten is Tiger; Sasuke is the Hare; Lee is the Dragon; Malfoy is the Snake; Shikamaru is the Horse; Sakura is the Ram; Choji is the Monkey; Neji is the Bird; Kiba is the Dog; and Ino is the Boar. You are the inner workings of the primary stage"

There were only a few mutter protests and sarcastic remarks, but other then that, they all did as Ron directed.

"Now for the secondary and trilateral stages, I will need our 'beloved' leftovers to take up the positions of north, south, east, and west, as you will be representing the directional signs along with the five positions representing the elemental signs. Harry is Fire and South; Naruto is Wind and West; Hinata is Water and North; Kinomi is Earth and East; and Akumu is simply Spirit"

"But why aren't you Spirit?" Akumu muttered as he filled the fifth space at the top of the circle.

"Because," Ron said softy, "I have to be the conduit"

There was a brief moment of silence.

"So… you're really going through with this? I'll be flash and blood soon?" Obito asked cautiously.

The redhead nodded.

"Yatta!" the ghostly boy cheered, jumping up and down like a kid with chocolate bar. "No more perpetual fourteen year old body for me! I'll be twenty-eight! Yah baby!"

That got some laughs.

"Kami help us all"

They all noticed that Kakashi, along with Kurenai had also shown up - the two jounin looking excited to see the resurrection of the young/old Uchiha.

With a deep breath, Ron grinned.

"Seireimegan!"

There was slight chocking sound from the gathered crowd, and the sound of Draco murmur glumly "So some the old wizard bloodlines still live on…"

As the red haired wizard's eyes turned back, he looked back at ever

"Okay, those of the Twelve please link hands and everyone speak the sealless jutsu 'Unite'"

Nodding, the twelve gathered kids joined hands. As one they spoke the word and flash of light shot through the group. Frightened, Ino let go with a yelp, but then gasped in shocked amazement to see that a single glowing strand of white light was flowing through both her hands, connecting her with the others.

Neji, with his Byakugan activated, looked up.

"What did you do?" he demanded sharply, trying futilely to break the thread that connected his hands to Choji and Kiba.

Ron glared at the pale-eyed boy. "You did that. When you spoke the Word, it joined you all as one"

"NANI!"

The redhead sighed impatiently.

"If you weren't listening to me to being with, then I'll say it again - you twelve represent the Twelve Zodiacal Animals, and the eight on the outer circle represent the Mother Elements and the Four Corners. You all volunteered, so no complained. Just be happy this isn't lethal. Are you with me?"

They all nodded grimly, allowing Ron to slip into the circle with Obito and a shimmer light that had to be the other spirit.

"Now what?" Harry asked, his gaze turning towards the darkened sky.

"You'll know what to do when your moment comes" Ron smiled. "We're about to make history!"

The wind picked up as immediately as the red haired wizard began to chant. His chanting was incredibly fast, moving at a pace that spoke of the long hours he had taken to practice his part. Taking his wand in one hand, much to the confusion of the eight shinobi that didn't know any better, he began to weave his magic into the chanting whilst form one-handed seals with the other.

"In the Name of the Spirits, hear my call! Time and Space join for us!"

And the wind raged harder, threatening to blow them all over. They all hear the sounds of angry voice, villagers and shinobi alike heading their way.

"Children of the Light, join your hands! Twelve souls; Brothers, Sisters - all as One! Before Justice's Eyes speak your names!"

"Nezumi!"

"Oushi!"

"Tora!"

"Usagi!"

"RYU!"

"Hebi!"

"Uma!"

"Oohitsuji!"

"Saru!"

"Tori!"

"Inu!"

"Ousuubuta!"

Blazing brightly, Ron smiled - the extent of power in their circle enough to decimate five city blocks should it go wrong. By this time, they had nearly half the village watching them, most of them glaring kunai or other such pointy objects at Naruto, wishing death upon the innocent boy.

Growling fiercely at them, the redhead began to finish the ritual.

"By the Magic power of Release - Doton! Fuuton! Katon! Suiton! Spirits of the World Unite!"

And as one, all of the twelve in the center linked hands one last time, the glowing connection even linking the distance between the outer eight, as Ron completed his last one-handed seal and slammed his right hand upon the ground, rattling the village's foundations and shacking the world to its very core.

"Itonami: Fukyuu hitokaga yomigaro


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter Twenty One – Resurrections

He had made a mistake - a terrible, terrible mistake.

Namikaze Minato, Yondaime Hokage of Konohagakure no Sato, dead at the age of twenty-four, could only sit back and watch the years go by. He had figured that when the Shinigami removed his soul from his body, his life on earth would be over. Sure, his life had been over, but he remained earth-bound - forever separated from his beloved Kushina and unable to affect the life of his son.

This was hi self-bought purgatory. No one could see him, not even his fellow ghosts. He watched them all; like Obito following Kakashi around, and sometimes managing to give the stoic young pervert a scare. This was one of the drawbacks of having sacrificed his soul to the Shinigami. His had refused him entrance to Heaven, and even interaction with the rest of the earth-bound dead. In a way, it was a fitting penance for what he had done to his poor sweet musuko.

Kaji, Naruto…

His poor son.

It didn't matter what he did. He would follow his tiny son like a shadow, feeling double the pain that the small blonde felt whenever the villager and shinobi alike would shoot him hateful glares, whisper hateful thing, throw stones, and take every chance they got to abuse him.

It broke his heart to see his child in so much pain - he was only a baby for Kami's sake! But more then that, it infuriated Minato to the point of madness.

He had sacrificed everything for his people - his life, his soul… and his son. And how was he repaid? Sarutobi-sama did nothing and said nothing. The people hated his child, believing that the sweet innocent boy was the Kyuubi's evil incarnate. To them, Naruto was the representation of all that they hated, their scapegoat when they needed someone to blame when they had only had themselves to blame. How could he have been so stupid as to think that the village would see his son as a hero? He had been there that day when the council was lobbying to have the newborn Naruto executed.

They had, no matter how much he cared for them, proven countless times that their prejudice was like a second nature. After all, human nature was in the worst of them all. And he vowed that if he were ever given the second chance, he would make sure that they all paid.

But today? Today couldn't be any worse. It was October 10th - they very day that had become the worst day of his life/afterlife. For the blonde haired spirit, it was the first anniversary of his death, Kushina-koi's death, the Kyuubi's attack, and most importantly, Naruto's birthday. If there was one thing the ghostly young Hokage hated, it was being useless.

All he could only sit back and act as a guardian angel for the filthy underfed blonde toddler that lay curled up on a battered cot, trying to muffle the heartrending sobs within his ratty pillow. He had been unable to do a thing as the caretakers took it upon themselves to beat Naruto, bashing the one year old around like a rag doll until he was blue and could move no more. He had been thankful for Obito though, and he wished he could have thanked his ghostly former student, when the dark haired Uchiha stepped in to scare the bastards away.

As any big brother protecting their younger sibling, Obito had done for Naruto whatever he could.

'Hush musuko' he whispered as he sat down on the cot next to him, knowing that the tiny boy was unable to hear him. "Kaa-chan watches over you, and Tou-chan is here for you, even though you can't see him"

Naruto whimpered, but surprisingly calmed.

Minato smiled. Maybe he was of some use after all. Even if he wasn't able to affect the living world, he would still focus all his love towards his son, and his son would feel it. Reaching out, he brushed his fingers lightly over Naruto's blonde locks, smiling as the boy relaxed further and feel asleep thanks to his father's calming presence.

It stayed that way for an hour, until Naruto began to talk in his sleep.

"Soon…" the child mumbled sleepily.

The ghostly blonde perked.

'What is it musuko? What's soon?' he urged silently.

"Kijutsu…"

Magic?

What did he mean by that?

And so over the years Minato continued to watch, taking Naruto's sleep spoken words to heart. He had done whatever he could to learn more about magic. It had taken years, enough time in which he was watched his child grow from a tiny baby into scrawny pre-teen. Naruto had worked hard, fighting against the biases of everyone to become strong. It wasn't until after his son's first Chuunin Exam, did the resourceful Yondaime manage to glean the information from old Sarutobi-sama.

He was shocked beyond words when he discovered what his child had prophesied. Apparently the old geezer was in contact with the wizards! Wizards of all people - the sworn enemies of all shinobi! He only heard of wizards, and their magic, in stories. But this was all too real.

As he listened in, he discovered that Naruto had dreamed of a mighty wizarding tyrant. A baby boy had defeated the beast no more then three weeks after the dream. But like the Kyuubi, this Dark Lord remained within the world. But what shocked Minato even more was when he found out that the Sandaime was going to send Naruto and two teammates away from Konoha, and accept the wizard boy and two friends in they're place.

He would have thought the old man mad, his brains addled in his old age, if it hadn't been for what happened two months later. Ron, the redheaded wizard child had awoken one of wizarding bloodlines. He turned to be Spirit Speaker, and had, although unknowingly at the time, unlocked the doors between the spiritual plains and had allow him to cross over to become like any other ghost. And in befriending the boy, he found out that there was a chance that he could be brought back to life.

Something like this couldn't be ignored.

Not when this was his was his second chance.

Namikaze Minato, Yondaime Hokage of Konohagakure no Sato, dead at the age of twenty-four - would live again…

Naruto cried out as a turbulent shockwave of energy washed through the Konohagakure so hard that it knocked anyone standing off they're feet and sent then fly backwards. He gasped, his sides paining him so badly he could barely breath. But it seemed that the whole thing had positive side effects as well.

For the first time in his whole life, he felt totally energized and although he didn't know it at this time, the side effects had also left all the wounded healed; the sick well; and the old feeling young again for more then ten miles. Along with the force of the revitalization, a blinding flash of ultraviolet light had lit up the night sky brighter then the sun. While it slowly faded, eyes began to readjust. Sitting up, Naruto found that everyone that had going in on making the resurrection a reality were currently looking like collapsed dominos, all of them panting as though they had just partook in a marathon.

While the rest of the spectators were still in shock, Naruto crawled over to Hinata's side and shock the indigo haired out of her own stupor.

"N-Naruto-kun?" she blinked. "Did it work?"

The blonde fox-boy could only shrug. "Don't know yet. Look!"

He pointed towards a big cloud of sulfuric smoke that billowed from the place where Ron had been standing.

"Y-you don't think he sp-spontaneously combusted d-do you?"

Naruto couldn't help but burst out laughing at that one. He heard someone else laughing as well, and looked up to see a couple of figures stumble out of cloud of smoke.

"Too much sulfur Ron" a dark haired man in his late twenties teased, his voice containing a slight wheeze.

"Sh - shut up you, you bastard" the redheaded wizard snarled. That only served to enact another coughing fit. "I hate wiseasses"

"Then that means you hate yourself!"

The young man could only be one person - Uchiha Obito.

The two pre-teens, along with many other people, gapped. He looked so much older, so much that they barely tell him apart from the ghostly boy he had been only minutes go. His whole outfit, which had looked fine on his teenage body, mocked his handsome adult appearance now. His dark hair was scraggly mess, as if it hadn't been brushed in years; his pair of childish florescent orange goggles where pushed up to his forehead; and the cloths he was dressed looked as though they suited someone ten years younger, which he had been moments earlier.

He paused, looking around at the staring people. He paused in that to look down at his clothes, and then blushed crimson with embracement, his cheeks looking like a new breed of tomato.

"Too childish?" he asked Ron, getting a sardonic smirk from the red haired boy.

"Yah think?"

Then another voice suddenly caught their attention.

"Sheesh! How does a man find his way out here?"

Obito started laughing.

"The greatest shinobi Konoha has ever seen and you get lost in a little cloud of smoke, ne sensei?"

Naruto froze.

Sensei? But Obito and Kakashi's sensei was -

"Geeze brat! At least you could've helped me out too," Namikaze Minato pouted as he stepped out of the smoke.

For all those that he thought this was a hoax, everything suddenly changed the moment the Yondaime, alive and twelve years older, stepped out of the smoke. The uproar it caused was enough to level streets if it made of chakra. There was no doubt at all who he was, as he didn't look much different from the last time they had saw him.

He still sported the shaggy shoulder length sunshine hair that fell over brilliant blue eyes and was dressed in ensemble of white and red flamed cloak that he was famous for. Currently, his eyes were watering thanks to the smoke, and he was pounding on his chest as blew smoke rings to banish the fumes that he had inhaled.

Three people most of all were gapping at him in speechless shock. The first was Ron Weasley; one of the resident wizards and possessor of the wizarding bloodline limit the Seireimegan. He was beyond shocked to discover that not only had he brought Uchiha Obito back to life, but he had also brought the Yondaime - his best friend Naruto's father - back as well! He was absolutely befuddled, having never guessed the identity of spirit friend beforehand only to find out now that he happened to be some so famous.

The second was Hatake Kakashi; one of the Yondaime's students and infamously known as the Copy Nin thanks to the one Sharingan eye that he best friend and teammate, Obito - now currently back from the dead - had given. He was so shocked to see that the spirit that Ron had been hanging out with since Halloween, the one that had mercilessly teased him via the redhead, was his own sensei! Only his mask was keeping his jaw from coming unhinged and rolling away.

The third was none other Namikaze Naruto, the blonde Hokage's own son. The foxy boy was currently having trouble breathing again while Hinata panicked and babbled with incoherent alarm by his side. His mouth, normally spewing all sorts of incredibly loud nonsense was flapping like a fish's out of water. And what kid that suddenly found themselves' looking at their own father back from the dead wouldn't?

He stood, his body moving on its own accord. Trembling slightly, he couldn't even find is own voice, his emotions an utter muddle in this moment of shock. He would have kept going, however, if it weren't for the suddenly shattering sensation exploding through his head.

And in wave of red haze, he collapsed into darkness.

"What the hell…?"

Naruto's eyes snapped open and his hands flew to the back of his head. He sifted through his spiky blonde locks, but found nothing. There was no source as to what had caused the pain he had only seconds ago experienced. Looking up, he noticed with a gasp that he was no longer staring at his newly resurrected father, nor was he even in Konoha at all.

Instead an oddly familiar perpetual white mist surrounded him. Then he remembered. This was the same place that he and Harry had met during their joint dream all those months ago. But it was strange this time, with no one for company.

"Oh great… I must be dead…" he muttered dryly.

And from behind him, a soft chuckle answered. "Don't worry darling, its not that bad - a concussion at worst"

Whirling around, the blonde boy found himself staring at a beautiful woman. She wore a long pale green robe, with flaming auburn hair that fell to mid-back and her eyes, her eyes were like sparking emeralds. He had seen those eyes before…

"Are… are you Lily Potter?"

The woman smiled.

"Yes dear, I am"

"Wow… Harry never told his okaa-san was so pretty!"

"Such flattery" she smirked. "You know, James might get jealous!"

The blonde blushed crimson and began to sputter.

With a laugh, Lily waved it off. "Don't worry dear, that buffoon gets jealous no matter what. But never you mind that, I only have a few minutes to talk and I don't want to waste a second of it. Its quite imperative that you listen closely to what I am about to tell you. While it's technically against the rules to give unauthorized 'divine intervention', I have something to give you"

She paused, and gave him a once over. With a nod, she reached into her robes and withdrew a large silver mirror. "Okay, this is what I brought you here for" she smiled, and handed it to him.

Naruto took it from her delicate hands and stared down at it. The mirror was a beautiful work of artistry; the handle was molded to look like branch of ivy growing around a pool of water. The glass held in place by four leaves. The odd thing about it was that the glass was frosty, yielding no reflection of the one that looked into it.

"Umm… I think it's broken" he commented, looking back up.

That only caused Lily to laugh again. "All men are same - they need a manual for everything!"

"Hey!"

"Oh, take no offence sweetie, but it's the curse of the male species. Anyway, the mirror isn't broken. Do you remember what my Harry told you about the Mirror of Erised?"

With a frown, Naruto chewed on his lip. "It was the one that guarded the Philosopher's Stone from Voldemort last year wasn't it? It shows you your heart's desire - Erised is Desire spelt backwards right?"

The red haired woman clapped.

"And people have the nerve to call such a smart child an idiot? What a shame" she sighed, causing Naruto to blush at the offhanded comment. "Good. The mirror in your hands is very similar to the Mirror of Erised. It is called the Looking Glass of Detraped - the Looking Glass of the Departed. With this mirror, you can call upon the dead. It will allow you free some innocent people, one of them being Harry's godfather that was sent to prison of my and James' deaths"

"Thanks…"

She smiled again.

"Don't mention it - it was the most that we could do for you"

"We?" he frowned.

"Yes. Getting the mirror to you was the work of not only myself, but also two good friends. Kushina says she wishes she could have been there for you, as does Makoto say the same for Sasuke. But you must be waking up now, your father is frantic," she winced, then added "He's currently giving the whole village an earful for their treatment of you these last thirteen years"

Naruto shock turned into a malicious grin. "You have no idea how long I've waiting for someone to do that, and it makes it all the sweeter that it's my otou-san doing it too!"

He waved goodbye to her as the mists began to fade, causing the red haired witch to begin vanishing with them. And it was only as he began to feel himself returning to his body, he vaguely heard the sound of Lily Potter's voice say.

"Oh, and just remember; Beware of Deceptions that Lies in Secrets"

- Five Minutes Earlier -

Minato coughed, very much alive. All around him was smoke - what a way to be brought back from the dead with a bang! He stumbled, his eyes watering. "Sheesh! How does a man find his way out here?"

Then the sound of sound of laughter met his ears.

"The greatest shinobi Konoha has ever seen and you get lost in a little cloud of smoke, ne sensei?"

The blonde man growled inwardly, following the sound of Obito's jovial voice. It was an act that promised pain for his insolent pupil, a pain that he would remember till the day he died - again. The smoke thinned as he neared the edge of the cloud, and when he finally spotted the boy, or young man would have been more accurate, he glowered at him.

"Geeze brat! At least you could've helped me out too," Minato whined, stepped out of the smoke and pounding on his chest in order to expel what he had inhaled, tiny smoke rings wafting up into the air. However, all thoughts of punishing the brat vanished when he saw his son, the boy was on his feet with his jaw hanging slightly slack and his eyes wide at the sight of him.

'He didn't expect this! Kakashi too! I have enough blackmail material to last me forever!' he thought with a mental snicker.

He was about to take a step forward, but before he could move Naruto let out a sharp gasp of pain and crumpled forward. Instinct took over instantly, and he used the Shunshin to move as fast as he could to catch the boy before he hit the ground. Minato couldn't help but visibly shudder as blood from a deep jagged wound began to color Naruto's blonde hair red. Looking down he noticed that a fist-sized rock lie no more then a 'striking and falling' distance away.

Someone had tried to kill his son - and before his very eyes at that!

Snarling, he looked up and everyone flinched at the steel in his eyes.

"I demand that whoever did that steps forward - now!"

He was surprised when an older woman, at least in her early to mid sixties, stepped forward. His recognition of the woman was instantaneous. It was Pirittokuru Hikari.

Hikari was a civilian woman and had been the mother of many children, more then half of them shinobi. She had been the one that had taken Kushina like her own when his wife had gained asylum in Konoha, becoming just another one of her brood. Sadly, every one of Hikari's children had died - the ninja and civilian alike - leaving the mother a burnt out shell of her former self. Without a family to take care of any longer, she had left the village a few months after the attack, and had only returned slightly over a year ago. But these thirteen years had done a number on the woman. It saddened him to see that her once kind and caring features where now a brutal mask of hard lines and a pervasive scowl.

She wasn't looking at him, but rather at his inert son - as were many furious onlookers.

"I missed," she growled, and spat on the ground next to her feet. "Should have been a little more to left, and then we would have been ridden of that filthy monster for good!"

There was unanimous shouts of approval from nearly everyone present, and the louder it got, the more Minato begin to feel his blood begin to boil.

"That thing's a demon!"

"It has no right to live!"

"It slaughtered my family!"

"Vile wretch!"

"Its a blight within our village!"

"The Sandaime should have killed it when he had the chance!"

"Slimy little creature has foiled my ever attempt to kill it - five times already!"

"It will kill us all!"

"Monster!"

"Demon-spawn!"

"ENOUGH!"

Dead silence filled the air. Of all the younger generation that had know the truth about Naruto and Kyuubi before had were currently on their feet, their backs rigid and radiating such killing intent that could level a mountain.

"You don't even know Naruto-kun" Hyuuga Hinata said icily. "He is ten times the person any of you will ever be"

Standing defiant, Minato was pleased to see that the girl was soon joined by her teammates. It wasn't long and then Sasuke, Sakura, Harry, Ron, and Hermione were also standing at her side. It the rest of the rookies of their age group joined them soon after that, even though they didn't know the whole story.

"Why do feel the need to hate the innocent?" she continued. "You are all so bigoted, believing immediately that anything you fear or don't understand is evil. If Naruto-kun was really a demon like you say, would be have risked his life to keep me safe? To help me fight against the cruelties of my own clan? People say I'm weak, but here I am - a chuunin in my own right. And whom do I have to thank for this? I thank Naruto-kun, because if it weren't for him, then I would still believe all the lies my otou-san has spewing all these years that was spineless ingrate and a stain on the Hyuuga name. I don't care anymore, because I am strong and it was thanks to the boy I love that helped me recognize it!"

Although Hinata's speech was more then convincing, that wasn't enough to sway the once Pirittokuru matriarch.

"I don't see why you're so adamant about protecting that thing?" she nearly screamed. "There is nothing human about it. Because of the demon all my children are dead. It was the reason so many people died, it was even the reason why my sweet Kushina died too! Because of the creature, my life was ruined! You should let me kill the vermin now!"

With deadly calm, Minato pasted Naruto into Hinata's waiting arms, and walked forward.

His voice acidic, he said, "You of all people have the right to say such a thing. Kushina was never your child, but she did love you as a mother. I'm sure she would be furious right know to know that the woman she saw as a second mother wants to murder child that she gave her own life to bring into this world"

"Lies! Demon's trickery!" Hikari cried. "You've all been bewitched! Everyone knows that Kushina's baby died that day!"

"It was what you were all made to think. Sandaime thought it would keep him safe, but he was wrong. It only served to make matters worse. All of you have been tormenting an innocent boy all his life"

"LIAR! THAT THING'S A DEMON AND ALL DEMONS ARE HEARTLESS, MURDERING MONSTERS!"

"Foolish woman. You know as well as I do those words so speak are false"

Silence feel as over the crowd, and Minato turned around to find himself looking at the white-haired friend and the ashen haired girl that had returned to Konoha with his son.

"Until recently," the boy continued. "I was the vessel of the Gobi no Houkou" there were gasps and a few screams following that announcement, and the people nearest to him began to move away as though he had some kind of contagious disease.

He glared at them all.

"Contrary to popular belief, Gobi was nevera raging, mindless monster. The baka was annoying and a prideful chauvinist at times, but what do expect from a demon? Its logically simple to point out that they are not human like we are, and thus do not partial to the moral rules. But who are we to talk? Humans can be just as cruel. The Tsukiaoi clan of Yukigakure is completely to blame for 'unleashed' the Gobi. For their own selfish reasons, they were determined to usurp the demon its ancient resting grounds. They fought a useless battle, many of them dieing because they were too stupid to realize it. After generations of pointless slaughter, Gobi did the one thing it hoped would end 'war', and it sealed its into the clan's year old heir - me"

He fixed a hard gaze on them all. The whispering continued, furious like a nest of hornets.

"Only filth like you would - "

The speaker, a young man in his mid twenties, suddenly rose into the air and came crashing down into a group of Anbu, bringing them down like dominos.

"Why don't you just shut the hell up?" standing before them now another boy, a pale blonde with his fine aristocratic features twist in fury. "In my experience, humans are worse then demons. And I should know because I was once exactly like you - hell, I'm still like you! But filth? You should be happy that the real monsters of the world don't bother with pathedic beings like you!"

Standing strait, he unlaced the ties that held a balky clock around him, and let it drop. The blonde Hokage and everyone else that had not seen what he looked like were now witnessing to a terrible sight. Unlike the first boy, the second boy really did look like a monster. Like something brought to life from a nightmare, his had hands that were knurled hooks with claws; his teeth like razors; hard gossamer, scaly skin; and thick spikes that trailed down his arms.

"Call me a demon all you like, because it will be a refreshing change from they the other names I've been called these last few months. I have been punished for my misdeeds a hundred times over, and I live with it still. It was because of people like you - people how saw the chance in molding a dangerous weapon - which is why I look this way"

He snorted, a trail of smoke leaving his nostrils. "So sure, I may look like a demon, but the difference between being a demon and looking like a demon is that I refuse the act on its instincts. But I must say, even though I'd like nothing more then to slaughter you all, I've tasted enough blood to last a lifetime"

He turned on his heal and stomped through crowd, the terrified civilians and shinobi parting like the Red Sea.

"Because of the Eight-headed Dragon inside me, I ate my own father. And believe me, you can't even fathom what that sort of thing does to a person"

Minato watched the boy leave, knowing with a secret smile that he had just pulled the linchpin.

"Yo, Harry…"

Gasping, all eyes returning Naruto. The boy's eyes were open now and he was swaying drunkenly from a concussion. But strangely enough the boy was holding a large silver mirror in his hand that hadn't been there a minute ago.

Naruto grinned foxily, waving his newly procured mirror about.

"'… Your mom's a looker!"


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter Twenty Two - The Right Choice

"Preposterous! I refuse to believe in this nonsense!"

Minato stood back, glancing across the room at the gathered elders and heads of clan of Konoha. He inwardly seethed with pent up rage as he listened to them wheedle and whine, taking every chance to deny everything he said.

"Believe what you with Utante-san," the blonde haired man replied icily. "But the fact of the matter is that everything you've just been told is the truth. There is no way you could prove that Naruto isn't my son, heir to what little remains of my long dead clan, nor can you contradict the very fact that you have personally contracted seven assassins in the past thirteen years to kill my son since I was 'there' as a witness every time"

The older man glared back at him, and Minato noted with much grim pleasure that the wizened old codger wanted nothing more then to rant and rave like a spoilt child.

"But retiring as Hokage, Yondaime-sama?" Inuzuka Tsume protested as she got to her feet. "Isn't that overreacting?"

He looked at the sever woman with the tattooed cheeks. "I doubt you call it overreacting Inuzuka-san. I am no fool, you know. I spent thirteen years worth of disembodied torment watching my only child grow up without Kushina-chan's or my guidance. Every one of you has treated him foully in the past, and there are those of you who still don't see the error of their ways. Naruto is good kid, always has been, and even if he can be a pest it all stands to reason that he become that way for attention. I also clearly remember you Tsume-san telling your son Kiba he wasn't to have anything to do with Naruto when the boys first entered the Academy. You're exact words were "Stay away for that boy - he's nothing but a good for nothing monster". I only forgive you in your transgressions against him because has become, in a way, friends with your son"

"Gomen Yondaime-sama"

He sighed, but only nodded as Tsume once again took her seat.

"Now I'll have you all understand that the choice not to become Hokage again is my choice. I was once the leader and protector of this village, and I loved it so much I was willing to sacrifice everything I held dear in order to keep everyone within it alive. That was a mistake"

More pretests arose within the council's conference room as the elders and clan heads let out shocked cries of outrage. They were silenced seconds later.

"It was a mistake," Minato continued. "Because I was foolish enough to believe that any of you would view my son as a hero. In fact, the whole incident of the Kyuubi no Kitsune attacking Konoha was the fault of a demi-god" those words brought a hushed silence as everyone leaned forward to hear more. "While it wasn't well known outside the clan, the males of the Uzumaki bloodline were born to become the perfect jinchuurikis"

There were gasps.

"How is that possible?" one of the lesser clan leaders objected. "I thought that

"Simple - their ancestors pissed off the celestial deities and the men of the clan were forced to be forevermore the vessels of their kind. The dragon demi-god Ryuusaku possessed the body of Uzumaki Tatsumaki, the father of my wife. With the death of its vessel's son Uzumaki, Ryuusaku knew that it would have to force Kushina to bare male offspring for the dying clan - that is why she fled Taki and joined Konoha. Unfortunately when the dragon learned of its vessel's daughter's pregnancy as that the child was to be a male, it summoned the one creature could be sealed within Naruto…"

He took a deep breath.

"Ryuusaku knew I would have to seal the Kyuubi inside our son, and that I would die doing so. It wanted revenge upon Kushina for having escaped its tyranny. Regrettably, summoning the Kyuubi no Kitsune was a mistake. Instead of choosing the garden verity kitsune - god, demi-god, or lower demon - Ryuusaku had to choose the most powerful which coincidentally was the greatest of the Nine Biju. There was no practical way for even a demi-god to control the volatile power of the Kyuubi, and thus what remained of the Uzumaki clan was slaughtered before the fox began to take its one-minded wrath out upon Konoha"

As he finished, Minato simply basked in the silence that filled the air. He looked around at everyone, gauging each face as he did so. Koharu was glaring kunai at him, and that was word enough for him that they both knew who had favor over the majority of the council. He even looked at Tsunade, whom had been sitting back silently, listening to his every word with interest, her eyes now wide.

"Only you would be too blind to see that the boy is a threat. You say that the Kyuubi's attack was Uzumaki's error, but you yourself sealed that monster. Your son or not, he's already been proven dangerous"

His hair on the back of his neck rising, the blue-eyed Hokage turned to ever so slowly to face none other Hyuuga Hiashi. The indigo haired man was on his feet, his darkened features and pale eyes expressing nothing but loathing. It was just typical that it had to be Hiashi of all people to make such an accusation. They had never been on good terms, even when they were genin…

With a steadfast resolve, Minato was determined to continuing to defend Naruto innocence. He wouldn't let anyone say such things.

'What kind of father would I be if I didn't?'

He sneered at the bigoted Hyuuga. "This coming from the man who executed his own twin brother which inevitability traumatized his nephew into believing in fate? This coming from the same man who browbeat his own daughter into submission because he couldn't stand the fact that looked and acted like her dead mother? Why should any word out of your mouth be of any credit Hiashi?"

"How dare you!"

"I dare all I want Hyuuga" Minato lashed back. "You have the gall to make such accusation against my son, when considering that you have done far worse in your lifetime. Do you really fail to realize that at the same time you accuse Naruto of being a monster, that you are already are one? Its time that you were put in your place"

The veins around the indigo haired man's eyes bulged, the Byakugan shinning in his opaque orbs.

"Put in my place?" Hiashi growled, ignoring the shocked looks of the others around him. "Yondaime or not, what gives a low class commoner like yourself the right to decide that? After all, the Namikaze clan has always been lower then the Hyuuga!"

The blonde man scoff at the comment, his eyes flashing dangerously enough to shock the rest of the room's occupants with a look that was so out of place on the normally kindly man's face.

"Lower then the Hyuuga you say. Ha! The Hyuuga are only what they are because of a genetic mutation!"

Those were enough to enrage the Hyuuga clan leader. Before anyone, least of all Tsunade could stop the Hyuuga leapt at him, already in the Jakken stance. But surprisingly Hiashi wasn't quick enough to land any attack as he was found himself on the receiving end, a fast paced series of quick tiger strikes that closed tenketsu points that allowed chakra into his arms.

Stumbling backwards, the shocked Hyuuga looked Minato in the face and gasped.

"Impossible!"

Minato stared back at him with own eyes - now sporting white irises, three gray tamoe dots, and bulging veins. It looked as if it were a combination of the Byakugan and the Sharingan…

"It isn't impossible," the blonde replied. "When I said that the Hyuuga were a case of a genetic mutation, I was telling the truth. It was the same with the Uchiha as well. The bloodline limits of the Byakugan and the Sharingan are cursed mutations of its forefather, the Sharikugan - the All Seeing Mirror Wheel Eyes"

Minato gestured to his eyes; turning in a circle so everyone could see his eyes as he proudly displayed what he had keep hidden from them for so many years.

"In the ancient days it was one of the greatest bloodlines. Since the corruption of the original, few Namikaze were able awaken their talents. With the Sharikugan's aspects divided into singular talents within the new generations, the clan branched three ways. While one unaffected by the mutation remained Namikaze, the other two become individual clans of they're own - the Hyuuga and the Uchiha"

"I was one of the lucky few Namikaze to awaken my 'legendary' kekkei genkai" Minato said as he turned back to Hiashi, deciding he was finished talking with the council altogether.

"You know the powers your own and the Uchiha's bloodline possess. While I do not possess all the talents of the Sharikugan, Naruto's capabilities are tenfold that of my own. Word has it that in defense of the one he loved, he awakened the unlimited form, the Boenkyou - the Shielding Eyes. Consider yourself 'blessed' Hyuuga, that my son loves your daughter. Its only because of his love for her, and her love for you, that is keeping me from killing you right now…"

By mid-afternoon the news that the Yondaime had come back from the dead had spread like wildfire all over Konoha. While the villagers overjoyed by the miracle, none of them knew whether to laugh or cry since they heard the details of the meeting that had taken place that morning. Not only did their greatest Hokage refuse to return to post as village leader, but they had also discovered at the same time that the vessel of the Kyuubi no Kitsune was none other then his son.

At first no one had believed a word of it, preferring to remain in denial of the truth.

Like it matter anyway.

Meanwhile, a few hours after all that had taken place, a certain pale blonde sat overlooking Konoha from Hokage Tower, lamenting in his memories…

Tsunade sat at her desk, facing the three youths that stood before her. The buxom blonde had an expression on her face that was a mixture of concern, unease, satisfaction, and anger. The combination wasn't one that really helped the three children feel very confidant in her presence.

With a sigh, she folded her hands. "I have taken much consideration in the matter of granting you three asylum within this village. After having discussed it with the heads of strongest clans, we have decided to grant it to at the price that each of you must be placed under the individual supervision of a different clan"

The tension in the air was almost overwhelming, as she looked first to Akumu.

"As of the end of the meeting with the village council twenty minutes ago, Inuzuka Tsume was kind enough to accept you Akumu on behalf of her clan due to your affinity for dogs. Also believe her decision is also partial to the fact that you share a friendship with her son"

The white haired boy nodded, before he turned and left the office without a word, although he was most likely waiting just outside the door for Kinomi.

"At the same time Yamanaka Inoshi has been kind enough to offer you Kinomi lodgings with his clan" she continued. "It will last until which time her siblings can be located"

The bespectacled girl smiled and bowed before the Godaime, then turned and hurries to join Akumu.

Standing alone now in an office with a woman that loathed his very existence, the last youth shivered. She looked at him, scalding him with her haunting brown eyes that seemed to see all the wrongs he had ever committed in his sort life.

"Lastly," she said solemnly, a note of distain in her voice that was surprisingly not directed at him. "Hyuuga Hiashi has expressed wish that you Draco be inaugurated into his clan…"

The pale boy's eyes widened.

"But it comes with its consequences. While you will be 'accepted', you will also be partial to clan law and thus you will be required to be branded with the curse seal of the branch house. Normally it is only placed on children under the age of four, and had you been any other person, I would have refused to let it be supplemented on you. But I have thoroughly researched the background of the Malfoy clan. I will have you understand that while I let you stay in my village, under my protection, I do not trust you. This is the precaution you must except for the sake of your own well-being…"

Draco Malfoy was in a miserably foul mood.

The pale boy sat with his legs dangling over the edge of the immense tower erected in the village, looking off into the darkened distance, his gray eyes lackluster. He could barely feel the soft spring wind as it blew through his scraggly platinum hair, though it gave him the sensation of flying. It also served to give him the irrational urge to jump. It was a pathetic and cowardly thought, but then he had been sitting in the same stop for the last three hours lamenting his fate.

Although he didn't wasn't to think about it, that's all he could seem to do. While it wasn't anywhere near as bad as what had happened back home, he couldn't help but feel lost. He felt utterly trapped and unable to breath in this horribly suffocating place.

Only a mere three hours ago, though his mind kept replaying the memories, Tsunade had been merciful and had granted him refuge within the village walls. She knew as well as he did that he wouldn't be able to return to the Wizarding World (lest power-hungry witches and wizards like mother and the remaining Death Eaters try to use him for his demon's powers), let alone the Muggle World. Sadly, due to his inability to use magic or what the ninja called charka, he was nothing more a civilian - though a highly dangerous one if you counted his demon.

He was a ward of the Village Hidden in the Leaves now.

And it sucked.

It wasn't as though he didn't like it (actually he loathed it), but he now he was required to be placed under the guardianship of one of the village's ninja clans until he was of age. He had been unfortunate to gain the attention of the Hyuuga leader - the father of Naruto's mousy little girlfriend Hinata.

He had yet to meet his 'jailer', and be adorned with the 'cure seal' they used on the lower members of the clan to assure loyalty. The thought of having his very life in another person's hand made him feel so defenseless - and he was at that.

His lot in life just seemed to suck and it was all Naruto's fault, or rather that of the blonde boy's father since the whole getting accepted into the Hyuuga clan was a way for its leader to get some sort of revenge on the blonde haired man.

How was he ever going to survive?

"Yo Malfoy!"

The pale blonde groaned, not even bothering to turn around, because speak of the devil; there was one brilliantly blonde haired idiot standing behind him - the idiot who sporting the terribly nice black eye that he had received from Potter for calling his mother hot.

"What do you want?" he growled irritably, not bothering to look at the other boy.

"Kyuubi wants to talk with Hachibi"

Those words still the young ex-wizard and chilled his blood. He turned then, an incredulous look on his aristocratically demonic features. "You can't be serious"

Naruto flashed him a foxy grin and, must to his distain, sat down next to him.

"Oh, but I am"

"And what does your fox want with my dragon?"

"A pleasant conversation?"

Draco glared. "Cut the crap you dolt. From what I gather by the large amount of mirth they're giving off, I get the feeling that the fox isn't exactly on speaking terms with the dragon - any one of them"

The brighter blonde shrugged and scratched the back of his head.

"Well… Kyuubi says it's all within reason"

The pale blonde raised a scathing brow.

"I doubt faking the cry of a female dragon during mating season is within reason" he replied dryly.

And as soon as the words left his mouth, Naruto cracked up. He started laughing so hard he was crying and clutching his stomach from the pain. It lasted for a good ten minutes, all in which the young ex-wizard found himself growing ever more frustrated.

A vain throbbing his temple, Draco reached out and smacked the laughing boy upside the head.

"Hey!" Naruto gasped. "What that for?"

He crossed him and glowered.

"I don't like you, and you know that. So will you please get what you came her for over and done with?"

"Right… never piss off Mr. Prude"

"I am not a prude!"

"Sure you are. You're a pureblood wizard with a phobia of rest of the human race"

Fed up, Draco stood, fists clenched and his fangs grinding. "If you're just here to insult me, then leave"

The whisker-faced boy frowned and shook his head.

"No can do. Kyuubi still wants to talk to Hachibi"

"Why?"

"Because Hinata-chan just told me that you were going to be 'adopted' into her clan. Now it's not like the baka kitsune and I want you to be completely defenseless. What we want is to ask the Hachibi to give you some of your magic back…"

- Hogwarts -

A whole world away, across seas and mountains, a fantastical castle remained hidden in its cloak of magic upon the windswept highlands of Scotland. Within the castle, whoever, an unknown evil was attacking the children. Those older and wiser new that it would not be long before someone perished, and the school closed for good. And although the stakes seemed raised against them, it didn't stop the most powerful residents of the castle school to try and conquer their unknown foe.

Sadly, they hadn't progressed very far.

"This has truly become a state of emergency Albus," a gray haired woman white haired stressed as she paced, her frustration and fear growing by the second. "With over half a dozen students now in the infirmary, petrified by some unknown beast. We must shut the school down before student dies - like last time!"

Albus Dumbledore sighed.

"I agree Minerva, but I never imagined the Chamber of Secrets would be reopened - not with Voldemort focusing his energies in the Elemental Countries of the shinobi world. I too would hate for another student to die. But sort of predicament does that leave us in if we do?"

"We need to bring the brats back - all six of them" another man, this one with white haired spoke up. "I know for a fact that the Chuunin Exams have ended a week ago. Those kids are amazing - I've witnessed enough of it myself last year. I'm sure that if we bring them all back, they'll be able to solve the mystery that of us has been able to crack"

Minerva McGonagall looked as though she was about to protest, but quieted as Albus raised a hand. With a troubled smile, he nodded.

"Very well" the elderly man agreed. "I leave it to you Jiraiya to return to Konoha and give them word of Hogwarts' plight. I'm sure that Teams Seven and Seven ½ will be more then happy to come, even more since this has official become a mission"

Jiraiya smiled gravely.

"You can count on that. Its not everyday a bunch of half trained brats get a SS rank mission! Besides, until Sarutobi-sensei awakens from his coma, it'll give Tsunade-hime even more paperwork!"

-Konoha-

Tsunade was taking a few minutes to nap, her face plastered to a stack of paperwork and an empty bottle of sake lying on the desk next to her. The blonde woman had had a very ruff day. Not only had Namikaze Minato, the Yondaime and one of her predecessors, come back to life and not want to take his job back, but she had also had to deal with the raging elders of Konoha's council and deal with the three children - the snow-nin, the stone-nin, and the wizard.

Suffice to say, her job sucked!

And as if to make everything worse, a certain bedraggled white haired idiot appeared in her office and set off her 'Hentai Kanchiki'. She let out a scream and decked Jiraiya upside the head, sending the pervert hermit across the room and a few Anbu to enter the office wondering if she had been attacked. Upon seeing the prostrate toad sennin, the Anbu sweatdropped and left the office without a word.

Standing, Tsunade stalked over to her former teammate's side and glared down at him.

"Jiraiya! What are you doing here?"

He looked up at her and grinned dazedly.

"What about you?" he slurred. "How's life as Godaime?"

"Terrible. Now why are you here?"

Jiraiya sat up. "I came to retrieve all six of the brats. There's trouble at Hogwarts and Dumbledore needs their help"

"What kind of trouble?" Tsunade asked suspiciously. "I've only been gone a little more then a week"

The white haired man sighed.

"The Chamber of Secrets - Salazar Slytherin's secret hold within the castle has been opened and nearly a dozen students have been petrified. Albus has only just got a replacement for you, who will be arriving late night to being brewing an antidote, but we need help or else the school will be closed. I have faith that the kids can pull off something for us"

"Well… you'll be getting a little more then just the six kids"

"What do mean?"

"Minato - he's alive"

It didn't taken long for Tsunade to summon the seven people to her office. Upon seeing his favorite student alive and well again, Jiraiya wasted no time in pulling Minato into a bone crushing hug. In the end, Naruto had to breakup the 'hug-fest' with a "Don't kill him ero-sennin! I just got him back last night!"

From then on, the two teams minus Kakashi and Obito were debriefed on trouble at Hogwarts. As Jiraiya had predicted, the two trios were more then eager to accept their first SS rank mission. Since they knew a lot about Hogwarts already made the mission that much sweeter and the more worth getting it done.

As soon as they were dismissed, the six children made their way to collect some cloths and tell their friends and senseis about the mission. Naruto even promised to see if he would be able to locate Kinomi's sisters while he was there. And in no time at all, they were all at Hogwarts once again…

- Hogwarts, Two Hours Later -

Tumbling out of the fireplace, the four shinobi and three wizards found themselves in Professor Dumbledore's office. For the three ninja kids who had seen it before, it looked exactly the same. For Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Minato, it was something completely new.

Fawkes cooed with laughter from his perch as the blonde haired man tried to take in all his surroundings at once, looking nothing more then a kid at Christmas. There was defiantly no denying that he and Naruto were related.

"Welcome back children"

The two trios, not including Minato, turned to the stairway that went to Dumbledore's privet quarters. His eyes, although twinkling merrily like always, had a duller quality as the elderly wizard descended the stairs to greet them.

"Good to be back Dumbledore-sama" Sakura smiled, and then summoned Inner Sakura to stand next her. The second pink haired girl nodded as well, relieved at finally getting the chance to stretch her legs.

"My, my…" Dumbledore chuckled, looking at the assembly before him. "It looks like some of you have earned chuunin rank. Congratulations"

"Thank you" Hermione replied proudly while Naruto settled for a blush, scratching the back of his head in embarrassment.

"Ooh!"

They turned, and laughed at the sight of the Yondaime poking interestedly at a little glass spider that just so happened to be the first thing in Naruto's hands the first time they been in Dumbledore's office. When the blonde man finally realized that he was being watched, he turned around with a blush, his hands behind his back.

"What? I have been dead for nearly thirteen years…"

Dumbledore smiled and bowed. "So you must the great Yondaime Sarutobi has told me so much about. It's a pleasure to meet you"

Minato laughed.

"I'm not that great"

"Don't be modest tou-san!" Naruto shouted. "You're the best! I have never seen anyone give those stupid elders a piece of their mind like you did! You're my hero!"

As soon as the blonde calmed down, the old man looked at three young shinobi a secretive smiled with that infernal twinkle still in his eyes. The three young wizards knew that look all too well from they're past year's experiences.

"Now that we've got everything under control, I think it would be best if I told you three a little something about the Seishin Bunshin you left behind. It seems that you're three clone have been just as busy as you where during your absence…"

Sakura paled. "What do you mean by that?

Dumbledore was just opening his mouth to answer her when his office door was suddenly thrown open with a crash, and the Naruto-clone rushed in and nearly knocked Harry off his feet.

The boy was red in face; evidence that he had run a long distance, and the sound of racing footsteps on the stairs denoted that he had a pursuer.

"You're back, you're back!" he crowed, doing a happy dance before them as they all gapped at the sight of him. "Hey guys! Guess what? You have no idea what's happened while you've been gone! Sasuke-teme's got a - "

The clone let out a strangled gasped as he was cut short, thrown to the floor in a full body tackle as pale hand covering his mouth from behind. "Shut it dobe!"

Sasuke looked at his own clone, his left eyebrow twitching. What did he have that was so imperative that he, the real Sasuke, wasn't allowed to know?

"But teme!" Naruto-clone whined, struggling the Sasuke-clone's grip till he had enough leeway to speak. "Shouldn't the real Sasuke know that you have a girlfriend before you just dump the info on him when we're dismissed?"

"A GIRLFRIEND?"

Sasuke-clone suddenly found all eyes on him, and wilting under the pressure, he smiled weakly at the real him and a shell-shocked Sakura. The real Sasuke looked as though she wanted to faint, all the color leaving her face.

"W-who…?" Sasuke managed to choke out.

Sasuke-clone smiled. "Ginny Weasley"

"NANI?"

"WHAT?"

Everyone turned to look at Ron, whose face had become such a vivid red you couldn't even see his freckles.

"You - are - dating - my - baby - sister?" he growled slowly, advancing on the clone.

"Oh come on!" the clone suddenly snapped. "What's the big deal? I don't want to be lonely all my life and Ginny's a sweetheart. And what man wouldn't resist a girl that wasn't like all those rabid fangirls that were out for his blood!"

That was enough said and with yells of rage, Ron and the real Sasuke launched themselves at the dark haired clone. Sasuke-clone let out a yelp as the two boys managed to pin his to the floor and then as they tussled around. The whole thing was causing Naruto, Naruto-clone, Harry, and Minato.

It wasn't long before Sasuke-clone took one beating too much and smiled sinisterly at the real Sasuke. "On the plus side, the Weasley's are well known for producing large families. Oh, and this is you're problem now!"

And with a poof he vanished, leaving a smoke in the air that began to drift towards the Sasuke. Realizing his fate, the dark haired boy let out a yelp and ran from the smoke. But it was useless. The smoke that was a piece of Sasuke's soul caught up with him and remerged itself to him, leaving the once infallible boy a literal twitching mass of goo.

"Haa, haa, haa! Sucks to be you!" Sakura-clone jeered as she entered the office with a smug smirk on her face. "I just knew that Sasuke-kun was going to love that one!"

Sakura gasped, turning around to gapped at her clone.

"I thought you loved him!"

The clone gave her a perverse grin, unsettling the pink haired girl. "A month's a long time aneki!"

Just then a nock came to office door, silencing the ruckus going on within. The two remaining spirit clones laughed, and then vanished, returning to their originals, and unintentionally causing the two kids to undergo sensory overloud. Harry looked over at Hermione and shrugged, before the two bent down to help their help their friends while Dumbledore stood up and called out for whomever was at the door to enter.

A young woman in her late twenties entered the office, dressed in a medi-witch's robes, her plum colored hair bound behind her head with a pair of ornamental chopsticks. She was beautiful, her brown eyes accented by the purple/red tattoos on her cheeks.

"Dumbledore-sama, sorry I'm late but - "

She stopped in mid-sentence, her jaw dropping open.

"Minato-sensei?"

Minato stared back, just as shocked as the woman before him was.

"Rin?"


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter Twenty Three - Back to School

My name is Taizenko Rin, and I am twenty-six years old.

The early years in the story of my life are a semi-tragic one. While you might ask why, and it is completed, I am about to tell you. In a time not so long ago, but for feels like a century for myself, I was born in a faraway land known as Fire Country within one of the hidden ninja villages known as the Leaf. I was a member of the Taizenko - or the Clam Children. Although we were not a large clan like the other well-known clans of Konohagakure, we were known for producing many of the village's most talented medics. By the time I was born however, the Taizenko had either died out or joined into other clans. It was a sad thing yes, but thankful our values did not change with the decline of our numbers and I was taught from a very young age the value of healing and the respect for life - even when I would seen be trained to take it.

As I grew, I strived to uphold my family's honour by being the best I could be. As I excelled, my chakra control become excellent and it aided my inherent aptitude for healing jutsus. I knew that with a little more time, my dreams for brighter days would come true. I knew that when I become skilled enough - ready enough - I would be able to become one my village's elite protectors and use my skills to heal the wounded on the battlefield. So as I rose through the ranks of the most talented academy students, I longed for the day when I would become a genin. I had so many hopes and dreams, goals that seemed to hold precedent over my life.

I was a fool.

It was not to say that what I dreamed of was hopeless or pathetic but as I began to reach puberty, things would change drastically when I fall pray of a sneaky emotion that likes to poke you with kunai.

It was love.

So see, I would follow my misguided heart into an adventure of a lifetime. Thanks to infatuation, I developed a hopeless, worthless crush on Konoha's most stoic young genius. Hatake Kakashi was a loner, and although he was soon to become my teammate, he preferred to do things alone. Maybe it was charisma or the mystery that surround that enigmatic boy that drew me in. It was as if I wanted to find the key that had locked him away from the world since his own father, the famous White Fang, had committed suicide after being accused of blotching a mission. Or maybe it had been my overwhelming empathy that drew me towards him. I had always prided myself for it, but it seemed that when I needed it most, I was blind to the world.

As you might have already guessed, there was another boy in my life as well. Uchiha Obito was known for being bit of a coward - a crybaby at best - but really, who could blame him? He was amazingly kind for an Uchiha and had a good heart. It was his lot in life that sucked. He was seen as a disgrace to his clan - a deadlast - and someone that was always going to be weak. The truth was, he wasn't weak at all but rather the strongest person I have ever known. Thinking back on those days when we were young, I had ignored the fact that he had loved me and was willing to protect me with his life. It wouldn't until his death that I see the true person behind the tears, but by then it was already too late.

Again you must be wondering were my life takes its turn for the worst, so you will have to bare with and listen to the rest of my tale…

As time went on and I graduated as genin, my team's sensei would turn out to be none other then Namikaze Minato, one of Konoha's top jounin. Together with Kakashi and Obito, we couldn't have been smugger when he was soon to become the Konoha's youngest Hokage. Thanks to Minato-sensei and his wife Kushina (a talented medic rumored to be one par with the legendary Tsunade-sama),they would become for like surrogate parents for our ragtag trio. With their guidance we would grow strong and slowly being to accept our differences. But of course, Kakashi and Obito never really did get along, no matter how much like brother those two knuckleheads were.

It was 'bliss' if you could call it that, until the war with Iwa and the Kyuubi no Kitsune attacked Konoha. Even during a war, there was something to be joyous about and that Kushina-neechan's pregnancy. But why had things turned sour? That was when everything seemed to go terribly wrong all at once. Within the space of a few months attacking stone-nin killed Obito; Minato-sensei was killed defeating the monstrous demon fox; and Kushina-neechan dying just shy of giving birth to a stillborn baby boy. To make things worse, Kakashi, who had been on the brink of a change for the better, had drawn in on himself and had become dead to the world once more. It was the trauma we had suffered watching Obito's death and the new Sharingan eye that our fallen teammate had convinced to transplant, that had done it.

After that, I had no one left to rely on.

So I did the only thing I could think of.

I abandoned Konoha.

Fleeing the only home I had ever known, I went in search of a place I would use my talents only for healing. My journey led me on a path westwards and through the ancient wards that had been surrounding the Elemental Countries for more then a millennia. When I came out on the other side, I found myself in a fantastical world I had never seen before. It was there I learned of another culture of people not so unlike the shinobi known as witches and wizards. They used a power called magic, or as I had heard in legends, kijutsu.

It was simple enough to slip in unnoticed and join these strange people without suspicion since they themselves were recovering from a war of their own. I was told tales by the people of a monstrous snake-like man that reminded of Minato-sensei's tales of Orochimaru the Snake Sennin. Thankfully he had recently been destroyed, by a year old baby boy no less.

Having found a sanctuary, I knew it was my new duty to help any other shinobi that may someday wish to escape the torments of the life of a ninja.

Four years later I would meet just the people.

I befriended a trio of sisters from Iwagakure. Although they hailed from the village responsible for Obito's death, I knew from their kind dispositions that they had hated the war as much as I had. The eldest was known as Uxinta, a slender figure and delicate features, she looked like anything but the Anbu field medic she had been. Like myself, she been in the war and had witnessed so much death.

As I would soon discover, she and her two younger sisters, eighteen-year-old Aki and thirteen-year-old Natsu, had recently fled their village they could no longer take harsh demands that had come with the postwar. The only regret the three sisters had been in abandoning a baby sister to the same harsh fate they were trying to escape. Uxinta had explained that her father had told her of the legendary 'Wizarding World' ever since she was a child. It was from her that I learned that the wizarding peoples that once waged war with the shinobi centuries prior.

I then accepted to help them become a part of the Wizarding World, and thus gained myself three friends that knew the same pain that I felt.

That had only been nearly three years ago.

So for the first time in a long time I was happy. I had a number of satisfying jobs, but I what I really wanted the most was to work with children. When I got an owl with a letter from Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, last week, I knew I had to take the job he was offering.

But what I had never expected was getting to my meeting late and finding herself face to face with my sensei, a man who I seen die nearly thirteen years ago…

- Hogwarts, present time -

"Minato-sensei?"

"Rin?"

There was a long pause in which Naruto, who had just woken up with a massive headache due to the reunion with his spirit clone, looked between his father and the mysterious young woman he seemed to know.

"YOU'RE ALIVE!"

The scream served many purposes: one) causing his temples to throb harder; two) wake Sasuke and Sakura up from their mini-comas; three) shatter many glass objects within a ten yard vicinity; and four) lead to the most shocking sight ever. The blonde rubbed his eyes and watched in shock as his father braced himself for impact as a plum haired young woman suddenly crossed the room in a single bound and threw her arms around him. He could help but gape he watched the woman throttle his father till the man turned blue.

And it was actually quite strange watching his father go scarlet with embarrassment while he had someone sob into his jacket; babbling incoherent sentences about him suppose to be dead.

"Hey… umm… otou-san," Naruto finally asked, still unnerved if he was playing the part of a good son right. "Who's the crazy chick?"

The woman suddenly ceased crying and freeze.

The blonde squeaked and backed away as turned to look at him, her brown eye widening to impossible sizes.

"K-Kaji?"

"Actually its Naruto, but that was the name I was born with"

She sputtered, as if what she was seeing and hearing wasn't possible to be seen or heard. Two seconds her eyes rolled to the back of her head and she promptly blacked out, right back into his father's arms.

"Hey dobe, you killed her" Sasuke smirked as massaged his own aching temples and poked the woman in the side with a foot.

Ron snorted. "She isn't dead stupid" he said the last part just to infuriate the boy that was dating his sister. "For one, I can still see her soul burning brightly within her, and two, she's still breathing"

The dark haired boy glared at the redhead.

"I know that idiot! I was being sarcastic!"

"Take that back or I'll make sure you knew get within five feet of Ginny for the rest of your life!"

The two boys were at each other's throats with pointy objects when Dumbledore coughed and calmly said. "Now, now children, no harm done"

The arguing redhead and brunette shot each other withering glares, but shut up none the less.

Dumbledore sighed and got up from his desk and proceeded to walk over to where Minato was unsuccessfully trying to wake the up.

"I take it that you know Ms. Taizenko?" the Headmaster smiled.

The blonde nodded.

"Of course I know Rin. She was apart of my three-man team back home. Haven't seen her in almost thirteen years - she left Konoha not long after I died"

Dumbledore chuckled, and with a flick of his wrist a small couch appeared. Once she was laid down, the old man smiled again, his face thoughtful.

"I should have figured that she was shinobi" he began. "If her timing was perfect, then she would have arrived here in the Wizarding World shortly after the war with Voldemort ended. It would have been terribly easy for wizards to slip out, or for shinobi to slip in without detection by either side. After all, Ms. Taizenko's records said along the lines of 'She seemed to come out of nowhere. Although evidence of formal schooling it yet to be found, she has intimate knowledge of the healing arts that makes her an invaluable asset to any medical institution'. She also has a record at St. Mungo's for her 'unorthodox' healing procedures and a penchant for wandless magic in the healing of her patients - every single one of them making a complete recovery…"

He paused and stroked his long white beard thoughtfully, his eyes twinkling merrily. "Know that I think about it, most of her patients have experienced strange encounters, as though they had a 'second power source'. Those that came to my attention when they young, I had sent to Sarutobi for 'extracurricular' studies. I think its safe to say that she unwittingly awaken the dormant chakra channels of many witches and wizards…"

Everyone seemed quite shocked, but no more then Naruto with his one track mind.

"So she was your student? As in Kakashi-sensei and Obito's teammate?" the younger blonde goggled.

Minato smiled. "Yep. Their team was the picture of yours in the beginning - the brooding genius, the love struck girl, and 'deadlast'. Though I'm proud to say that you guys have changed a lot quicker then they ever did! Since those three were as close as family, your mother and I decided to make them something like Godsiblings for you"

That word caught Harry's attention, reminding him what Naruto had told him his mother had said.

"Professor Dumbledore" he said, slipping past Naruto and Hermione. "I have something important to tell you"

He turned to Naruto and the blonde happily handed over the Looking Glass of Detraped. Smiling, the raven-haired boy waved his hand over the mirror. "I wish to speak with James Potter"

Dumbledore frowned but then his eyes widened considerably as the glass turned foggy and a smiling face with bespectacled hazel eyes and raven hair appeared.

'Smashing Harry' the face of James Potter laughed. 'Its about time we finally got the chance to help out good ol' Sirius'

"Harry? What is this?"

'It's the Looking Glass of Detraped sir'

Dumbledore looked back down at James. "But that's a legend…"

'And I'm kind of contradicting that legend right now, aren't I?' he asked.' Now I've summoned to help free a innocent man and give my son at least someone in the Wizarding World that cares about him'

"What are talking about?"

'Exactly as it sounds. Now what I need to tell you is imperative. The night before Lily and I died, we met with Sirius and Peter to change Secret Keepers. Sirius thought he posed too much of a threat to us as our Secret Keeper and insisted on it being changed. Of course, we chose Peter to replace him. Our mistake. Peter Pettigrew was and is a Death Eater, the one we never suspected. When Sirius confronted him after our murders, the little rat framed him our and the murders of those Muggles before he took off. He currently living as Ron's rat Scabbers for many years, but he's fled the Weasley home after Voldemort gained his new body. Now I'll repeat myself once more - Sirius Black is an innocent man'

Harry sat back with a small smile. He would have a wizard in makeshift family soon. Dumbledore, however, sighed.

"So many complications" he frowned. "Will there ever be an end to Voldemort's evil?"

But with a smiled he stood.

"Thank you James. I will send a letter as soon as can directly to Azkaban asking for a Ministry witnessed hearing with Veritaserum to help further prove his innocence for release"

'And if the hack-brained still refuses to let him out?'

"Then I'll let them view this conversation with the help of a Pensive"

The raven-haired man in the mirror grinned widely. 'Thanks Albus'

"Any time James"

The image then faded and the mirrored surface returned to its normal none reflective appearance. Ron proceeded to pat Harry on the back, while Naruto seemed to be staring off into space, or rather staring at Rin like she was some kind of an alien creature from Mars. He was just beginning to remember the strangest things - muffled voiced - when Sakura bopped in over the head - hard.

"Stop staring you little pervert!" she snapped.

But that wasn't exactly the best thing to say to him because Naruto suddenly rounded on her, pointing. "Don't you dare call me a pervert, you hypocrite! If my memories are correct, then this last month has turned you into an Ero-sennin class pervert! And there's no use trying to lie about it either 'cause I've seen you 'stakeout' the Prefects Bathroom countless times since Sasuke-teme started going out with Ginny-chan!"

The room had become deathly silent. Everyone seemed to stare at Sakura now, but no more so then Hermione, who was a pervert hater above all others, gapped at the pink haired kunoichi. And the entire time they stared, said girl's jaw worked furiously, as if she was trying to make a comeback or deny Naruto claims, but couldn't do to the memories she now possessed.

Hermione snapped first. "How could you?" she cried, hitting the thing closest to her, which turned out to be Ron. "You're the only other girl! Why did you have to turn pervert! Its bad enough that Ron's a pervert, so why you?"

"Hey!" Sakura yelled back. "Its not like I've done dirty things in public yet!"

Minato let out a groan, massaging his temples as he sat on the conjured couch next to the unconfused Rin. "The curse has continued…"

"Oh it worse then that" Sasuke smirked pointedly. "Did you know that she was the niece of a certain former teammate of yours?"

The former Yondaime's eyes widened fearfully.

"I always knew there was something familiar about that forehead…"

Naruto barely caught an enraged Sakura as leapt to maim his father. Struggling in his hold, she growled, a vain in her forehead throbbing and showing just a little more of Inner Sakura showing through.

"What's this about Roza-obasan and my forehead?"

Minato grinned sheepishly.

"Well I was her teammate when I was genin and the thing I remembered best about her was that she used her hitai-ate as a tub top and her abnormally large forehead. She was a pervert of perverts"

"Take that back!" she screamed. "Roza-obasan couldn't have been that bad, I mean Naruto invented that filthy Oiroke no Jutsu!"

Naruto was about to defend himself when blonde man shook his head.

"Sorry to say Sakura, but that one of was actually Roza's 'little gems' - and we could even call her up on the Looking Glass of Detraped to prove it. The Oiroke no Jutsu was her masterpiece, and prized it above all other. As a publicly blatant pervert, she loved nothing more then busting the village's closet perverts. In one year alone over three quarters of the male population of Konoha had suffered from massive blood lose. It wasn't Naruto's fault when he decided to snoop through the Hokage's office when he was six in hopes of finding a 'super cool jutsu' and found that one instead. The Sandaime had confiscated many of her pervert jutsus, mostly for his own privet collection, and color him shocked when he discovered that a non-pervert prankster had lifted one of Konoha's most dangerous kinjutsu right from under his nose and was currently using it to combat all the perverts in Konoha, himself included"

"It's a kinjutsu?"

"Of course. The first person she ever tested it on was poor Kozue, and she landed him a coma for three weeks! The best part was that he taught it Konohamaru - revenge is sweet!"

The conversation was cut short when a soft groan.

"What's going on?"

Dumbledore chuckled and they all smiled at the now awake plum haired woman.

"Well know that your awake and ready to join us Ms. Taizenko, I think its time that I explained the trouble that Hogwarts has currently been suffering"

After an hour long debriefing, six tired children stumbled down the corridors of Hogwarts toward Gryffindor Tower. Out of all of them, like always, Ron was the most vocal.

"Just bloody great…" the red haired wizard muttered darkly. "We have to hunt down a mysterious beast that is currently preying on the Muggleborn students and leaving them petrified. And why is it our job? Because none of the bloody teachers can figure it out themselves!"

"Oh be happy Ron!" Hermione snapped. "You wanted this SS class mission more then the rest of us, so suffer with it. Besides, we'll be getting paid ten times as much as we do with normal missions"

At the mere thought money, Ron ceased his gripping and began to hum a merry little tune, a skip in his step as they continued on their journey. They were only stopped a few times by portraits that were shocked to see Harry, Ron, and Hermione once again at Hogwarts after such a prolonged absences. So it wasn't long before the three trios made it up to the Fat Lady's portrait, only to receive a lecture about lateness, since the time change had caused arrive later at night then midday since they where now half a day behind thanks to the time change. Ignoring her, the six pushed part as the entrance opened and they were able to enter the tower.

With a sigh of relief, Hermione and Sakura made their way to the second year girl's dorm without a word, leaving the boys to fend for themselves.

"So who's ready to hit the hay?" Naruto asked with a yawn, watching as Harry and Ron raised their hands and Sasuke leaned against closest stonewall.

"You guys go ahead," the dark haired boy muttered. "I'll be up soon"

So the left him there leaning against the wall as he tried vainly to compose every thought and memory in his head since his resent 'mental meltdown'. While he did possess all of his clone's memories now, it would be hard to remember specific events for at least a day or two.

Staggering over to closet chair, he collapsed into with an exhausted sigh. If he had he known the Seishin Bunshin had such an adverse effect a month ago, he would have turned down Dumbledore's instructions to leave one behind when they returned to the Elemental Countries for the Chuunin Exams.

While he was concentrating on such things he didn't hear the soft patter of feet coming down the stair leading to the dorms and only realized that someone was there when a squeal brought him back to reality.

"SASUKE!"

The first thing that went through his head was 'fangirl!' as a pair of slender arms wrapped around him and hugged him tight. He regained his senses immediately when he received a small peck on the cheek. With a gasp he pinned himself deeply into the chair, pushing however it was away and a hand flying up to the spot that had just been kissed.

Staring owlishly, he found himself staring at a girl with a bright smile and even brighter red hair.

Ginny…

Nothing could stop the blush that suddenly assaulted his cheeks as his mind began to relay to him some of his clone's memories of the past month involving the red haired girl. It was far worse then when he had found himself infatuated over that ice-nin Risika as he finally began to realize what he hadn't been able to swallow back in Dumbledore's office.

It was all painfully clear now - he, the Great Uchiha Sasuke, had succumbed to the charms of the opposite sex!

As an Uchiha, he wasn't known for having a cheerful disposition, but he found himself remembering incidents in which he was laughing and smiling openly - something he had down since Itachi had murdered the clan. Remembered holding hands, kissing and sharing personal stories about his clan and their murder. Those were things he had never down before, and was now absolutely mortified that they had happened.

But why did those memories have to come with such happy feelings? It was totally out of character for him… wasn't it?

Hand still touching his cheek, he looked at Ginny and was shocked to see that she was wearing an expression of complete understanding.

"I guess I did that a little too soon right?" she asked, glancing at the floor as she shifted nervously on her feet.

"Hunh?"

Ginny smiled.

"Don't worry, I already know that the boy I love was an extension of yourself - a clone"

"How?"

"Because he told me silly. So… how did the Chuunin Exams go?"

Sasuke found himself utterly floored. No way… there was no way he would have given up such sensitive knowledge to a civilian! But his memories contradicted that excuse!

"How much do you know?" he finally asked.

"Everything" Ginny replied with a wave as she dropped down onto the closet couch to him. As soon as she was sure no one was eavesdropping, she continued. "You - or should I say your clone - decided it was unfair to start a relationship with anyone without warning first the one he cared about. It wasn't like I wasn't already suspicious with the way that you, along with Naruto and Sakura's clone's had been behaving in the days just after your departure. We all came to the conclusion that your sudden 'free spiritedness' was due to the fact that the clones didn't share the same inhibitions that you guys have enforced upon yourselves. So you see, since your clone didn't have your restrictions to human contact, he was able to easily tolerate the thought of dating a girl"

Scratching the back of his head thoughtfully, Sasuke asked. "So if my clone suddenly decided that it was time to date a girl, and Sakura's clone decided to become a pervert due to the fact that I was already taken - what has Naruto's clone been up to?"

Ginny giggled. "Well Naruto-clone started a full-scale prank war with the twins - normally with you either included or caught in the crossfire. As of three days into the life of your clones, there's been a daily lunchtime matinee of 'Who Can Torture the Slytherins Best'. He's also know for his great schoolwork - as strange as it seems, since he no longer figured he had to act the part of an idiot, Naruto-clone allowed his inner genius to be free and has risen up to one of the top students in the second year"

The young Uchiha jaw dropped. It couldn't be possible. But then as he thought about it, Naruto was known for being Konoha's #1 most unpredictable ninja.

"Oh but the best part was the prank he played on you a few days ago…"

Dreading the answer, he asked. "What is it?"

"Maybe you should wait for the memory to return itself" Ginny replied, looking away.

Now he knew it had to be something bad and it only got worse when Ron voice echoed from the second year boy's dormitory.

"Hey Sasuke! Nice picture of you in a bikini dude! I will treasure the memory forever!"

A kunai suddenly materializing out of nowhere into his hand, Sasuke, who a screaming Ginny holding onto his waist to hold back, bolted towards the dorms at top speed with only one thought in mind.

'Naruto was soo going to die!'


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter Twenty Four - A Fiendish Clue

"So Rin, how's life been treating you?"

Walking down the stone corridors of Hogwarts towards the Hospital Wing, Rin moved numbly as though she were a zombie. She bare heard her back-from-the-death sensei's words as she studied the dirt under her fingernails, finding it most interesting - it was, after all, the only thing keeping her relatively sane for the time being.

"Yoo-hoo! Konoha to Rin" the blonde man waved a hand in front of her face. "Anyway home?"

Still he remained completely unnoticed to her as her mind spiraled out of control. In just a half hour, see had learned enough to turn her semi-patched up world once again back upside down. In that short time she had learned that not only was Minato-sensei alive back from the dead, but so was Obito and the little brother she had thought she had lost been alive all this time, tormented by the bigoted fools of her former village.

That in itself was almost too much to take and she was defiantly sure that she would need to take a Dreamless Sleep potion before going to bed tonight. Or if was lucky, she could have Uxinta-chan send her a box of Fire Whiskey in order to get herself inebriated.

"RIN!"

"Hunh?" She finally looked up, barely able to contain the giggle that escaped as noticed that Minato-sensei staring down at her, his face red from frustration and his cheeks puffed like a chipmunk.

The blonde only got redder as her giggles turned to full-blown laughter. Without saying anything, she just hugged him.

"I missed you sensei"

She felt his deflate like a balloon. "I missed you too Rin. You have no idea how horrible it was to watch everything happening and be unable to fight back…"

"Was it really that bad? For Naruto I mean"

Rin let go and the pair continued to walk, Minato looking elsewhere.

"Yes. My poor son…"

"What did they do to him?"

"Everything. Naruto managed to survive everything that they've thrown at him, but even though he manages to hide it cleverly, I know its caused scars - hell, nearly thirty assassination attempts in his first five years alone! I couldn't do anything!"

"But you can't find the courage to talk to him about it"

It was more a statement then a question.

Minato sighed heavily. "I know, I know - you too much the good medic for your own good" he smiled solemnly. "I'm just wondering when the novelty will ware off"

"Novelty" Rin asked, now completely puzzled.

"Of course. I know the kid is ecstatic to have me back, but think he's leery - like he's going to loose it all. I don't blame him. Naruto has spent that last near thirteen years of his life alone, with no one that really wanted anything to do with him. I know it's only been a day, but I still can't help it…"

The plum haired woman patted him on the shoulder.

"We're here"

Minato looked around and noticed that she was right.

Rin smiled encouragingly. "Don't worry sensei. I'm sure Naruto will come talk to you about it when he's ready. Things like that can't be rushed"

"Yeah, yeah - I know. Kushina-chan already gave me the lecture on teenage hormones. Speaking of which, I have to hunt down that son of mine to get the mirror back - I think talking with her would do you some good"

She nodded.

"Oyasami nasai Minato-sensei"

He waved before vanishing in a swirl of leaves.

"Oyasami nasai Rin"

- One Week Later… -

"Good morning, good morning!"

It seemed like a crowning achievement as Ron Weasley crawled out of bed that morning. Although not normally a morning person, he awoke bright eyed and bushytailed with even a little skip in his step. He wasn't sure what it was, but he knew that something good was going to happen today - he just knew it!

"Good morning, good morning - to you!"

Or maybe it that today was the day that he and his friends would be taking a brake from their newest mission. It had been a little over a two week following the disastrous events of Chuunin Exams, and a week since the resurrections of Minato and Obito, and of course, the return to Hogwarts.

And dancing down the halls, the redhead just had to wonder if the air wasn't clogged with all the owls traveling back and forth from Fire and Grass Countries. It was mostly Harry sending constant letters and candy to Sora in Kusagakure - as he had discovered after the first package that the angel-girl had a vicious sweet tooth. But Naruto wasn't too far behind sending daily parcels to Hinata, not even giving the poor girl a chance to write back, though it would be any day now. Even Hermione seemed to a little on edge that she hadn't received a letter from Kiba yet- hell, how those two had gotten together Ron would never be able to understand. Kiba was just like him!

He was proud to be the only single guy out of their sextette, since you really couldn't count Sakura single anymore since she seemed to be drooling over all the older handsome boys - the twins included! So whistling a merry little tune, Ron entered the Great Hall. He had a great many people staring at him like he had gone bonkers or something, because of them knew he normally a right bastard after waking up.

Striking a pose, he preformed a back flip into his seat at the table beside his friends with a particularly noisy thump and grinned devilishly. "Yo! And how is everyone this fine morning?" he asked loudly, looking nothing more then a Cheshire cat.

There was a slight pause, as six pairs of eyes looked his way. Sasuke and Ginny, who were currently having a conversation - about the 'best way to utterly humiliate your enemies before get revenge' of all things - merely rolled their eyes at him and went back to talking; Sakura growled something through a mouthful of scrambled eggs that sounded suspiciously like, 'not while I'm eating'; while Naruto and Harry gave him near identical deadpanned expressions before their eyes returned to reading their morning mail.

"Well harrumph to you to" he replied, slightly miffed as he skewered piece of bacon off Harry's plate and popped it into his mouth.

Then Naruto suddenly burst out laughing.

"Hey guys, listen to this!"

Gathering close, the five friends plus Ginny listened as Naruto began to read his letter from Hinata out loud.

Dear Naruto-kun

It's only been a week since you left Konoha on your mission,

but for me, it seems like so much longer then that. While I hope

everything is going well, I thought that you might like to know

that Kiba's been mopping lately without Hermione here to keep

him forcibly focused and Akamaru seems to have gone into a

withdrawal without her constant attention. Aside from that,

Akumu-kun has been partnered with an Inuzuka puppy and has

taken Shikamaru's place on Team Ten so that they can participate

in the next Chuunin Exams while Kinomi-chan has been diligently

working at the academy helping poor Iruka-sensei manage all those

kids - Konohamaru says hello, by the way.

All that aside, I have been doing well. Since I've become chuunin

and your father 'spoke' with mine before you left, otou-san

hasn't been as harsh on me as he normally has - though not to

me anyway. It seems that he's taken Draco as his newest victim,

though he isn't the one making things worse. No, as it turns out,

Hanabi-imouto has taken bossing him around like he's be her

very own personal slave… which I know, is a immense blow to

his ego. But the best thing of all happened yesterday morning when

we were shopping at the market. He got so fed up with her nagging

that he levitated a bucket of miso paste and dumped it over her head!

(I have never laughed so hard in my life!) He should be counting

his blessing that otou-san hasn't taught her how to activate the

curse seals yet. But I think the simple act of defiance has won

the support of many Branch House members. We'll just have to

wait and see how that turns out.

Aishiteru, Hinata

His morning cheeriness renewed, Ron burst out laughing as well.

"Oh, what I wouldn't have done to watch that. As much as I hate Malfoy, seeing him drench the brat in that stuff would have been pure gold!"

Sakura raised an eyebrow. "How do you know Hyuuga Hanabi? She's only seven"

"Well, I'm friends with Konohamaru, Moegi and Udon - they're eight. But I'll explain!"

The red haired wizard clapped his hands excitedly and then dove right into describing the fateful events of one day back in early December. With the first snowfall, Ron and his three miniature three cohorts had taken to startup a snowball war with almost all the other academy students. They had ditched class by catching Iruka unawares and hogtying the poor chuunin - it would take him at least three hours to free himself from Ron's magic enhanced knots, an boy, was he irate!

But that was another story.

As it went, soon as they were free, the small swarm of kids had taken the streets of Konoha to being their miniature war. The goal was to attack only the players and if a villager or shinobi was hit in the crossfire, then they were out of the game. It had been going rather well until Hanabi came upon the scene. One of the kids had mistaken her a target and had smoked the stuck-up little Hyuuga right in the face with a slush ball. That in turn caused the brat to start a full-blown rant about how she was 'a daughter of the village's most powerful clan and that she would make them all pay dearly for this 'act of disrespect' to someone who was far superior'. Every kid there then retaliated to her words by committing an atrocious act of 'heathenry' by burying the brat up to her neck in the snow.

"She screamed blue bloody murder for five days strait after that…" Ron smiled fondly at the memory. "I even have pictures!"

Sakura was about to start a rant on 'being nice to children' when Harry and Naruto grinned wickedly. "You have to admit, that's pretty damn cool"

"But - "

"No Sakura" and it was Sasuke this time. "They're right. The brat, even at seven, is a Hyuuga of the Main House and a daughter of the clan leader. It's a great feat when any of 'lower ranking' bests a member of the head family"

The pink haired kunoichi deflated, gnashing on a sausage in her 'anger'.

"So," Ron sighed. "Where's Hermione?"

A loud bang that rattled the whole of Gryffindor table answered his question. A red-faced and sweating Hermione leaned over a stack of three large dusty tomes from the library, panting from excretion. The whole table was staring at her in shock, unable to fathom how a twelve-year-old girl had packed three fifty lb. books down to the Great Hall - even Lavender and Parvati had looks of awe.

Sometimes being a bookworm paid off.

"Its been seven days and I still haven't found anything!" the bushy haired girl groused, beginning a rant of her own as she off dusted the books and ignored the various looks as she seated herself at the table.

"Oh come on, we never expected to have this mission solved the first day" Harry tried to smiled, putting down his letter and leaning on the table with his elbows. "Tsunade told us this was going to be a long-term mission. Hell Hermione, you've been multitasking!"

Sakura nodded.

"Absolutely! I mean, look at it this way. This whole last week you've had your hands full juggling so many things at once: keeping Sasuke from killing Naruto over the Bikini Incident™; rereading all available material in the library; helping us with our homework to free up investigative time; keeping Naruto's otou-san from pissing Snape-sensei; and finally," she leaned over to whisper the last into Hermione's ear. "Keeping us shinobi a secret"

The brown-eyed witch only sighed and nodded, before opening one of the books to read at the same time as she ate.

The conversation varied during the half hour they had for breakfast. It ranged from their mission to getting Snape sacked. It would have continued to go well if it hadn't been for the first classes to loom ten minutes away - double Potions with the Slytherins.

Yippy…

While Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura were currently being 'tortured' by Snape during Potions, Hermione was diligently reading about all forms of petrifaction. She had to do it alone because Harry had gone with Dumbledore to Ministry of Magic to have Sirius Black released from Azkaban and Ron was only God knows where.

She sighed, sneezing lightly from the dust. Maybe she should take a break and go visit Rin in the Hospital Wing and at the same time, check up on the petrified students. As she stood, a small black owl suddenly appeared in a poof of feathers next to her.

"Fukuya-chan?"

"Hiya Hermione-sama-chan!" the owl hooted happily. "How are you this fine morning?"

Hermione laughed, and then looked quickly over her shoulder to see if Madame Pince had heard.

"I'm doing fine Fukuya-chan. You have a message for me?"

Before leaving Konoha, Hermione had made sure to summon Fukuya, her favorite of all the owls, to remain as her team's long-term massager between Konoha (All owls born in the Wizarding World, had their own contract with the wizards as post carriers since the Great War. Since she was now contracted to the owls of the Shinobi World, the owls here at Hogwarts ignored her now - though Hegwig still liked her).

"Yes, yes! Message for Hermione-sama-chan, I have!"

A thick scroll was suddenly dropped before her, her own name written in a messy Japanese scrawl - Kiba.

"Kiba no baka wanted me to deliver this letter to you, along with an apology that it has taken him so long to write"

"Fukuya-chan…"

"But dog-boy is baka - you've said so yourself many times" Fukuya replied, give her an owl's version of 'sticking out your tongue'.

Hermione sighed, shaking her head.

"So I have. Do you wish to go home?"

"Back to Fukurou-obaachan and the rest of the Mimizuku?"

"Yes"

"But what about my job Hermione-sama-chan?"

The bushy haired witch reached out and took the owl in her arms. "You can come back luv" she smiled. "Or do you need to be summoned for that?"

Fukuya nodded.

"Alright then. There's a bowl of owl treats on my bedside table in Gryffindor. Go take a rest"

"Sure thing! I'll even pester Sazunami-chan and Gama-chan while I'm at it!"

"Oh, you be nice to Sasuke and Naruto's pets"

Fukaya's large golden eyes glittered mischievously before she vanished once more in a cloud of feathers. Rolling her eyes at the young owl's antics, Hermione picked up Kiba's letter.

Dear 'Mione-chan,

How have you been? Akamaru and I have been missing your

company, but at least we've had Akumu help to make the time

pass faster till the day that you guys return. Anyway, it seems that

Akumu has really become apart of the clan these days. Surprisingly,

one our wolves gave birth to a litter of pups a few days ago. Out

of all the whelps, there was only one was an oddball -sport a pure

white coat apposed to the dark grays and tans of its sires. Although

this remains a secret to everyone but Akumu, Kinomi, myself, and now

you, we have discovered that the pup just so happens to be the non-demonic

mortal reincarnation of the Gobi no Houkou! Normally the pups are

withheld for actually clan members, but its not like Hana-neechan

could do anything about it since they've already bonded

Guess what his name is? Nigai. What kinda of crazy person names their

puppy 'Bitter'? Even if it was a demon in the last life, couldn't he have

thought up something better? Geeze, I don't think I will ever be able to

understand him. Anyway, I hope you doing well. Akamaru sends big 'kisses'

(those were his words, not mine) and we hope you'll be able to solve that

mystery of yours soon.

- Kiba and Akamaru

"That idiot…" she muttered, rolling up the letter.

Unknown to her, she had a silly little smile on her lips as he left the library for the Hospital Wing, completely.

It had been an utter long day…

Sasuke grumbled to himself as he made his way towards Gryffindor Tower. Not only had Snape made Potions that morning a hell, but Lockhart in Defense Against the Dark Arts had made even more of a fool out of himself (if that was even possible), and Binns in History of Magic had made his head hurt, and to top it all off, he had slipped in a puddle of toilet water from what was overflowing from the Girl's Washroom.

To make matters worse, he was screeched at by the ghost of an ugly girl and acquired a tatty black diary had been used to plug the toilet that caused the overflow. While it wasn't something that a cleaning charm and a drying charm couldn't fix, but it was just enough to make the stoic boy livid.

"Hi Sasuke!"

He was pulled out of miserable thought as Ginny came running down the hall to join him. He sighed, and for her sake, managed a small smiled.

"Hello Ginny. How was your day?"

The redheaded girl gave him a funny look, as if she didn't really want to talk about it, but then smiled back.

"It was okay. Professor Flitwick taught us a new spell in Charms today"

"That's nice…"

What about you?"

Sasuke gave her a deadpanned look. "What you get when you mix Snape, Lockhart, Binns and flooded bathroom?"

She looked at him, and swore there was something akin to guilt in her eyes. Ginny was about to answer the question when, the ever-present posse of fangirls attacks. Even though he already had a 'girlfriend', that didn't seem to keep away the girl - it only made them more jealous and more vicious. The pair began separated in the babbling throng of girls, Ginny being washed away as though a tidal wave had just tore through the hall.

It took Sasuke a told of twenty minutes to get himself untangled from all the vultures and ten more to make his escape. With a simple henge, he transformed into a suit of armor and watched as the mobs rushed past. As soon as they were gone, he sat down with a sigh. It had been a week - a whole week of avoiding jealous fangirls and getting to know Ginny. The latter half was so that he would be able to understand exactly what his clone's reasons for 'loving' the redhead had been.

While he couldn't say his feeling for her were anything near what his clone's had been, he found that he understood her better then anyone else. In every aspect, Ginny Weasley was unlike any girl he had ever met.

She was intelligent, but she didn't hold it above others; she was funny, but not too the point where it was annoying; she was pretty, because it was natural; she was strong, because she had something worth fighting for; she was shy, because she was overlooked by many; and oddly enough, she was able fully comprehend his pent-up feeling of rage where no one else could. Ginny simply had the power to fill a person with self worth.

And when she smiled, it almost painfully reminded him of his mother…

Strangely, it made him safe - secure - as though the trauma he had suffered at Itachi's hands had only been a dream.

Yawning, Sasuke shook his head to banish such thoughts. Why should he get his hopes up? In the end he would have to leave her, because he would never allow anyone he cared for to put in danger. His vendetta against Itachi would endanger red-haired witch far more then anyone else. He would see to it that she would never be hurt because of him.

"Time for studying…" he muttered, remembering that Hermione had demanded that all six of them be in the library an hour before bed. Grumbling to himself, he leaned over to retrieve his book beg. It was then that he remembered the diary.

Taking it out of his book beg, he flipped open the cover, he hardly noticed the name 'T.M. Riddle' written corner of the inside as he continuing on to be disappointed when he discover that the diary was completely blank.

The dark haired boy took out a quill and ink, letting a single drop of the black liquid hit the first page. At first, nothing happened, but then the little splash of ink vanished. Sasuke flipped ahead, but there not trace of the ink.

"Must be some wizard thing…" he muttered before putting his quill back to the page and began to write.

- Watashi no namae wa Uchiha Sasuke desu -

As expected, the words disappeared, absorbed by the book. He paused, wondering if what he was doing was foolish when suddenly new writing began to appear on the page!

- Konnichi wa Uchiha Sasuke - watashi no namae wa Tom Riddle desu. How is it that you come by my diary? -

Those words too sank back into the book not long after.

- I found it in a flooded bathroom. Someone tried to flush it down a toilet -

- Lucky that I recorded my memories in some more lasting way than ink. But I always knew there would be those who would not want this dairy read -

- What do you mean by that? Do you have something to hide? -

He waited for Riddle's reply, already the hairs on the back of his neck rising from suspicion.

- Nothing of the sort. What I mean is that this diary holds memories of terrible things. Things which are covered up. Things which happened at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry -

Sasuke pondered that what he had just read for a moment. Terrible things? Could it have been anything like what was happening right now? Maybe this could be his clue to get Hermione off his case.

- Did it have anything to do with people getting petrified? -

- Yes. Have you ever heard of the Chamber of Secrets? -

- No -

What could that be?

- Well then, I shall tell you. In my day it was told to us a legend, which it did not exist. But it was a lie. In my fifth year, the Chamber was opened and the monster attacked several students, finally killing one. The Headmaster, Professor Dippet, ashamed that such a thing had happened at Hogwarts, covered it up. A story was given out that the girl died in a freak accident. But I knew it could happen again. The monster lived on, and the one with the power to release it was not imprisoned -

- It is happening again. But you say that a monster did it? Do you know what kind of monster? -

Sasuke knew that if he was to find out what this monster was, then he and his teammates would be able to kill it end their mission.

- I do not know, for if I did, I would surely be dead and unable to tell you this tale -

Slightly disappointed, he continued writing.

- But that doesn't make any sense. If this all happened before fifty years ago, then Dumbledore-sama should know more -

- I remember Professor Dumbledore; he was the Transfiguration teacher of my time. Perhaps old Dumbledore knows nothing more then you and I or that he does not wish to believe that what happened then is happening again. Has any died? -

What it just him, or did it seem like this Tom Riddle was almost eager for someone to die?

- No, only petrified. Do you know of any beast that has the power to petrify people? -

- Unfortunately, I do not. But could, I you wish, show you the events of the night that it all happened -

Sasuke shuddered, suddenly reminded of the torture world of the Mangekyou Sharingan's Tsukiyomi. There was no way in hell he was going to trust this stranger - this memory - when it could mean that it could play around with his head.

No way, there was something wrong with this picture.

- No thank you. I do not trust being shown things that could very well be untrue and controlled for another's means -

- Suit yourself. You're on you own from here though … -

He shut the book with another shudder. That Tom Riddle had given him a very bad feeling. There was something fishy about this diary and he was going to find out why. If there were any good to have come out of all this, then it would be giving his findings to the frustrated Hermione immediately.

"SASUKE!"

That was, after he escaped the second wave of fangirls coming is way!


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter Twenty Five - Of Blackmail, Bonding and Evil Pranks!

"Itching Powder, shinobi blend?"

"Check!"

"Red paint?"

"Check!"

"Whipping Cream?"

"Check!"

"Insta-Wart, extra large?"

"Check!"

"Two packets of Ten-Minute-Curse-in-a-Bag?"

"Double check!"

"Yatta! We're making headway now!"

The Hospital Wing was suddenly filled with uproarious laughter, its two patients laughing till they had tears in their eyes. The commotion, however, did not go unnoticed by the school's matron. Plum haired and livid, Rin came stomping out of her back office with hands on her hips.

"Naruto, Ron - would you two please just stop that? Those pranks are what landed you two here in the Hospital Wing in the first place!"

The shaggy haired blonde looked up from his checklist, grinning foxily at the older woman who was standing over.

"Nah - its too much fun!

"Naruto…"

"But Rin-neechan!"

"No buts! In my three weeks working here at Hogwarts, you alone have been here ten times!"

"But he does have point!"

Rin whirled on Ron suddenly causing the redheaded youth to shrink in fear.

"What was that Mr. Weasley?"

"Well…" he sweated. "It really is fun! Hell, Minato's here more times then us. Last week he took on Lockhart on in a duel to prove that fruitcake was fake! What did Lockhart do? Summoned flowers for Heaven's sake! To top it off, he had to go and tease Sakura about her newly perverted qualities…"

The two boys shuddered.

"Yeah, tou-san is still back and blue!"

"Oh, come on!" they cried, and Ron continued. "Fred and George have been getting better - a lot better - at matching us in the pranks lately. Sure I know they've been at it longer then me, but I'm just as good! Its like they have someway to cheat…"

"Like your Seireimegan?"

Ron and Naruto looked at each other. "You don't think…"

"No, couldn't be. That takes a 'near death' situation - I was technically killed on my first real mission"

The blonde frowned.

"Yet Fred and George do crazy things everyday that could get them killed"

Those words only served to make the redhead pout.

"But that would just suck! Even though it's a family bloodline, the Seireimegan is supposed to be mine and only mine!"

"We don't know if they have it yet, but at least it isn't not Percy, right?"

Ron just glowered, muttering curses under his breath. Rin looked at the two boys a moment longer before giving up with an exasperated sigh - once a prankster, always a prankster. So as the plum haired medic left them alone once again to tend to other business, Naruto smirked deviously as he turned to his redheaded who suddenly shrank back from the sheer 'evilness' of the blonde's expression.

"So Ronny-chan, how was your 'Top Secret Date' Sakura last night?"

If it were possible for Ron's already pale skin to go lighter, it would have.

"H-h-how d-did you k-know about t-that?"

Naruto snickered "A master never reveals his secrets!"

That answer, however, didn't bode will with the red haired boy and he suddenly launched himself between their cots and started ringing the laughing blonde by his neck.

"TELL ME HOW YOU KNOW! TELL ME NOW, OR THERE WONT BE ENOUGH PIECES OF YOU LEFT FOR RIN TO HEAL!"

"Want a recap?"

The Great Namikaze Naruto's Flashback

a.k.a

'What Sakura Doesn't Want the Rest of Us to Know'

It was late, and Naruto had just finished the last touched to tomorrow's version of 'Who can Torment the Slytherins Best?' He knew that he would be having to leave the Great Hall soon before old Filch or Mrs. Norris caught him when they came by on their night round (no, he had gotten caught four nights ago by his dad, who, believe it or not, had been setting up a prank of his own).

Yawning, the blonde looked down at wristwatch and noticed that it was already 12:30 am in the morning - he had been working on this prank for almost four hours strait!

"I guess time really does fly when your having fun" he smiled, looking appreciatively over his work as he reached into his robes and withdrew the Marauder's Map. "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good!"

Like always, the trusty map began to bleed with its telltale ink. Opening it up to its full size, Naruto smiled again as the little blurbs that represented people began to appear. Like usual, the dots Argus Filch and Mrs. Norris were prowling the corridors, but safety for the blonde fox vessel, on the other side of Hogwarts. There was dot Taizenko Rin pacing the Hospital Wing, fussing over the dot Namikaze Minato, since his father, who was still there after landed himself in the infirmary for thanks to beating he received ('big bad' Hokage or what?) from Sakura and Inner Sakura. In Gryffindor Tower, the dots Hermione Granger, Harry Potter, Uchiha Sasuke and Ginevra Weasley slept peacefully in the own respective dorms…

But where were Ron and Sakura? Speaking of Sakura, the dot marked Haruno Sakura making its way up to the Astronomy Tower.

"What the heck could Sakura be doing at this time of night?"

His question was answered immediately, in two different ways.

Another dot, this one marked Ronald Weasley soon followed, as well as a little thought bubble that however next to it that said:

'As a world famous prankster, you must you must crash this privet date! - Padfoot'.

"DATE?"

Nothing seemed to process clearly.

Sakura?

Ron?

On a date?

Naruto snorted and started to laugh silently. It figured. The love-bug seemed to have infected everyone in their little group, so why not have the two perverts got together! This was soo gold - blackmail material baby! Ero-sennin would be so proud!

Snickering, the blonde, and with a little help from a cunning Kyuubi, snuck stealthily out of the Great Hall and proceeded to make his way towards the Astronomy Tower. He arrived ten minutes later, masking his chakra as he stuck himself to the rafter as he spied on his best friend and former crush.

"So, you seemed awfully happy this morning…" Sakura said, turning nonchalantly to the redheaded boy sitting next to her.

"Why wouldn't I have been?" Ron countered with a smile. "This is the third date you've agreed to go out with me. Why can't we do this often?"

The pink haired girl frowned.

"Well its not like there's much to here on a date then you could in Konoha. Besides, I've already got half the school teasing me since we got here about being a 'pervert'. I don't want to have more people on my case if they find out like you of all people!"

"Hey! What's that suppose to mean?"

"Ron, you have just as bad a reputation as a pervert as I do. Put two and two together"

"What? You mean you and 'Kura-chan?"

Naruto had to bite his cheek to keep from laughing out loud as Sakura punched grinned fool - hard.

"Ouch, not so hard…" Ron whined, rubbing his now tender chin.

"Oh, don't be such a baby"

The pair sat in silence for a moment longer before Ron asked "So when will we tell the other?"

Sakura pondered the question for a moment, playing with a strand of pink hair before smiling.

"After graduation"

"You can't be serious!"

"Oh yes I can!"

"But - "

But the scary kunoichi raised a fist. "My word is final. Breathe a word about this to anyone and I will personally relocate your privets"

Ron whimpered, hands instinctively covering his nether reigns.

And Naruto was soo at the' near-bursting-limit'…

"Do I still get the goodnight kiss?"

Not able to contain himself any longer, the blonde burst out laughing and the only thing that saved his live was the sound of old Filch yelling about students being out of bed at the same time he laughed. Thankfully, Ron and Sakura were too distracted with leaping out a window and running down the walls to notice that there had also been the sound of mirth filled laughter following them down…

Ron was currently twitching, looking very much like he was about to have a seizer. "Sakura is going to kill me!"

"No she won't…"

The redhead looked at the blonde incredulously, still reeling from the tale Naruto had just told.

"Yes she will! When Sakura finds out that you know - "

"Who ever said she was going to find out?" Naruto grinned.

"Are you blackmailing me?"

"Kinda looks that way doesn't it!" the young demon vessel smirked. "If there ever comes a time I want something, be ready, but what I really want is to be the one that tells Sasuke upon graduation that Sakura is going to be his sister-in-law!"

- One Week Later… -

A week later found Naruto plotting yet another prank. This one though, was going to be the gem of the whole school year! There were no classes today, but the blonde was currently sitting at his desk at the back of the empty classroom that Hogwarts' resident shinobi used for chakra practice. Normally his friends would have been with him, but they had other things to do…

As it was, Hermione had taken to heckling Sasuke about that dairy he had found and why he had been in the Girl's Bathroom in the first place while Ginny tried to fend her off. He was certain Ron and Sakura were meeting in secret (like in the broom closet!) while Harry constantly writing letters to Sora and Sirius until his hands went numb.

Sigh! Sometimes it sucked to be alone…

"Hey musuko, what's up?"

Naruto let out a frightened yelp and he whirled around in his seat to find himself staring into a pair of grinning blue eyes.

"Tou-san, don't do that!" he snapped, hand over his heart as he flopped backwards.

"Where would the fun in that be?" he chuckled and took a seat next to him. "So…"

The younger of the pair began to feel as uncomfortable as the elder looked.

"So what you here for? Father - son bonding?"

The both laughed nervously.

"Something like that…" Minato admitted truthfully. "You've been rather busy lately, so…"

"Rin-neechan forced you get it over with before you began regretting holding back?"

"How'd you know?"

"She gave me the same lecture too"

"She got that from your mother…"

They went quite after that. It seemed to be getting to the point that could drive a person crazy faster then the old water torture method.

"What was she like?"

Minato turned and looked at his son. "Why are asking me? You can ask her anytime you like with the 'Looking Glass of Detraped'"

Naruto smiled. "One, I've lent the Looking Glass to a friend in order to get some help with a prank. Besides, I want to know what she was like to you"

"What can say" the elder blonde smiled sadly, his blue eyes clouding over. "You mother was amazing. There is no real way to describe what she was like. I remember the day I first met her - Roza, Kozue, ero-sensei and I were returning to Konoha after a successful month long mission in Tea Country. I remember that Roza was going on and on about being board out her skull. We were all board, but she was just making the rest of us annoyed. We ever nearly home when Kozue decided that enough was enough. He had been about to kiss her - it wasn't well known, even when they both died, but he loved her and her pervert ways…

Well, that was when she came. I have no idea how long Kushina had been hiking for. When I stumbled upon her, unconscious in the bushes due to heatstroke and dehydration. Even though she was so dirty and caked in mud, I fell in love at first sight. She was the most beautiful girl I had ever seen. As soon as the rest of my team caught up we took her back to Konoha with us, having no idea that she was really a Taki missing-nin. After she recovered, Kushina told old Sarutobi about her plight and was granted asylum and status as Konoha medic-nin. I had been certain after that, that she wouldn't notice me - not with all the other boys following her around like faithful puppies. But she did. Out of all the eligible batchers in the whole village, she choose me"

"Did you ever ask her why?"

His father grinned foolishly, blushing. "She said she had dreamed of a face with blue eyes and blonde hair ever since she could remember. She said I was her destiny…"

Naruto snorted. "Sounds kinda sappy to me"

"You wanted to now squirt! Besides, from what I've seen, you have sweet little Hinata-chan following you around like a puppy while you were still oblivious during your 'Sakura-phase'"

This was Naruto's turn to blush.

"Anyway, enough with dredging up the painful stuff for right now. What's this?" Minato smiled and snatched up one of the younger blonde's prank diagrams before he could say a thing. They were really good - genius - and was about to say something about it when suddenly there was puff of smoke and a box with a small orange frog on top appeared on the desk between them.

"Gamakichi!"

The frog grinned widely.

"Yo! How's it going Minato-nii? I heard you came back from dead and its true! How come you haven't summoned us yet? Pops is mad at you - he keeps complaining to the old pervert every time he gets summoned"

The two blondes laughed.

"Well," Minato laughed. "I can't go about summoning ol' Gamabunta here in the Wizarding World now can I? That would raise to many questions"

Naruto nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah, like when Sakura and Sasuke learned to summon. Dumbledore-sama had to Obliviate over half the school's populace after Katsuya and Manda made an appearance on the school grounds! It was crazy!"

The little orange frog shrugged.

"Oh well, now where my Pumpkin Pasty?"

The younger blonde handed the sweet over, where Gamakichi promptly snatched it away and swallowed it in one bite.

"Mmm… this why I like these wizards," Gamakichi smiled, smacking his lips. "They know how to make a fine treat. Its just too bad that we have little to no contact with them…" shacking off his mournful reminisce, the frog patted the box. "Well I got you package you wanted. That Maito Gai dude was creepy - I don't understand what the Turtles see in him. Anyway, he and that Lee kid were more then happy to help out"

"Thanks 'Kichi!" Naruto grinned foxily and offered another Pumpkin Pasty. "One for the road?"

"You're the best!"

Minato pouted. "I thought I was?"

Gamakichi stuck out his tongue as he took the proffered sweet. "No offence man, but I haven't seen for nearly thirteen years - I was still nothing more then a tadpole then. Later!"

They waved farewell as the he disappeared with a pop, leaving the father and son alone in the classroom with the box.

"So, what's in the box?"

"Snape and Lockhart's impending doom. You wanna help?"

It took only an hour to devise, but when it was done and ready for detonation, the blonde duo couldn't have been more pleased. Proud of their work, the pair went to the Great Hall for dinner that night sharing identical devious grins that could make the hair on anyone's necks stand on end.

That was the look of 'Sinister Tidings®', so unlike Iruka's look of 'Impending Doom®' that had been copyright infringed by Hermione last year.

It meant that prank was coming.

"What are you didn't sitting with us Minato-san?" Sakura asked puzzled as the pair seated themselves with the rest of the Gryffindors.

There were nods coming from all over the table from Lavender and Parvati to Shamus and Dean to Fred and George (who looked kinda sick…) to half the First Years to an annoyed Prefect Percy.

"Wait and watch - give it a few minutes"

"Hunh?"

"Shush!"

And there was silence.

When it was getting to the point that someone was about to scream from the pressure, singing suddenly filled the Great Hall. With the singing came the lights, and with lights came the dancing. Dancing? Yes, dancing. Well, it was only two people dancing and singing, neither with control over their own bodies, but it was enough to get the whole school roaring with laughter.

Severus Snape and Gilderoy Lockhart were currently dancing atop the high table, singing and dancing in the most traumatizing-just-to-be-looked-at skintight green spandex jumpsuits!

"Body... wanna feel my body?

Body... such a thrill my body

Body... wanna touch my body?

Body... it's too much my body

Check it out my body, body.

Don't you doubt my body, body.

talkin' bout my body, body,

check it out my body"

At the sound of the two men singing what all the Muggleborn students knew as one of the most horrendous Muggle songs of all time just got them laughing harder (even most of the staff too) - it made things all better because it looked like Lockhart was actually enjoying himself while Snape looked positively enraged.

Every man wants to be a macho macho man

to have the kind of body, always in demand

Jogging in the mornings, go man go

works out in the health spa, muscles glow

You can best believe that, he's a macho man

ready to get down with, anyone he can

Hey! Hey! Hey, hey, hey!

Macho, macho man (macho man)

I've got to be, a macho man

Macho, macho man

I've got to be a macho! Ooh.…

Macho, macho man

I've got to be, a macho man

Macho, macho man (yeah, yeah)

I've got to be a macho!

Body, its so hot, my body,

Body, love to pop my body,

Body, love to please my body,

Body, don't you tease my body,

Body, you'll adore my body,

Body, come explore my body,

Body, made by God, my body,

Body, it's so good, my body

You can tell a macho, he has a funky walk

his western shirts and leather, always look so boss

Funky with his body, he's a king

call him Mister Eagle, dig his chains

You can best believe that, he's a macho man

likes to be the leader, he never dresses grand

Hey! Hey! Hey, hey, hey!

Macho, macho man

I've got to be, a macho man

Macho, macho man

I've got to be a macho! (all right)

Macho, macho man (yeah, yeah)

I've got to be, a macho man

Macho, macho man

I've got to be a macho! All Right!

Ugh! Macho… baby!

Body, body, body wanna feel my body,

Body, body, body gonna thrill my body,

Body, body, body don'tcha stop my body,

Body, body, body it's so hot my body,

Every man ought to be a macho macho man,

To live a life of freedom, machos make a stand,

Have their own life style and ideals,

Possess the strength and confidence, life's a steal,

You can best believe that he's a macho man

He's a special person in anybody's land

Hey! Hey! Hey, hey, hey!

Macho, macho man (macho man)

I've got to be, a macho man

Macho, macho man

I've got to be a macho! (dig the hair on my chest)

Macho, macho man (see my big thick mustache)

I've got to be, a macho man

Macho, macho man

I've got to be a macho! (Dig broad shoulders)

Macho, macho man (dig my muscles!)

I've got to be, a macho man

Macho, macho man

I've got to be a macho!

Macho, macho man

I've got to be, a macho man

Macho, macho man

I've got to be a macho! HEY!

It ended with a big flair of colorful lights and the pair doing the spits on the table. As soon as it was over, Snape started screaming blue murder, demanding the culprits literately be hanged, or at least, drawn and quartered. To make matters worse for him, Lockhart was bowing and blowing kisses at the laughing audience, even going as far as to strike a pose.

They were still wearing the spandex…

"NOW! I WANT TO KNOW NOW!"

And he even got his answer. In bright glowing golden letters, words began to form in the air above the hall.

The Marauders Strike Again!

Down to All Greasy Haired Bigots and Goldilock Fakes!

Shall the New Generation Conquer All!

Moony

Wormtail

Padfoot

Prongs

Introduce

Ninetails

Spirit-Eyes

Flash

and

Double Trouble

This had to be the great prank in the history of Hogwarts!

.

That night, Rin was keeping a close watch on two boys particular boys. They were her regular, regular visitors, but they were more frequent then half the half the school. All she could do was sit back and wait for the storm to pass…

It wasn't long before the light out was to be used for all students when she found the Weasley twins at her door. They had come to her a little over two hours ago, both of them complaining of sever migraines. Upon observation, the young medic had noticed that twins shared an odd problem.

It had to with their eyes.

As it were, the blood vessels in Fred's right eye and George's left eye had been increasing agitated, rupturing under the pressure to the point that the whites had been dyed scarlet. It was the wizarding kekkei genkai - the Seireimegan, the Spirit Eyes.

She remembered Minato-sensei telling her about Ron's powers, about how amazing they were, but she also remembered him telling her that it was normally stayed dormant. Ron had been the first Weasley in over a thousand years to manifest the power of the Spirit Eyes. Now it suddenly seemed like it was happening to the twins, but something was wrong.

Maybe it was to do with the fact that they were twins because after all, twins, whither in the Muggle, Wizarding or Shinobi Worlds were special…

If she was right, and she knew she was right, Rin knew that they were literately sharing their awakening bloodline limit.

And it was killing them…


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter Twenty Six - Petrified

"Child, open your eyes…"

Ron opened his eyes, blinking blearily. "Wha… what the hell?"

He looked down, noticing instantly that he was hovering above his own body, which was sleeping peacefully in his four-poster bed and mumbling things about Sakura in his slumber. Then his noticed the glowing silver thread. It linked his spiritual self and his physical self was a silver thread - his lifeline…

"Congratulations child - you have a awakened yet another ability of the Spirit Eyes"

That voice again.

Where had he heard that voice before?

"The day you died"

The redhead looked around, but say nothing other then his sleeping self.

"Of course you can't see me - I don't physically exist upon the mortal plane"

"Then you - "

"Correct. I am Life and I am Death, my child"

Still hovering, Ron shivered. "Why are you here?"

"To help prevent a tragedy," the unseen god whispered. "It pains me when any of my chosen children are in pain. Only you have the power to save them…"

"Save who?" he asked, confused.

"Your brothers - the twins"

Ron's eyebrows knitted together and he crossed his arms with a frown. "What have they this time?"

"They have begun to awaken my gift, but something has gone wrong. Their powers have begun to kill them. You died and received your powers through resurrection; the twins have not. While it have been brought on by trauma, the also share a very startling problem - they share their power. Very troubling indeed"

"So you mean if I don't help them, they'll die?"

"Yes"

"But what can I do to help?"

"Follow me…"

The red haired boy gapped for a second, wonder how exactly he was supposed to follow something he couldn't even see. Sighing dejectedly, and more then a little afraid for his brothers, Ron decided to follow his heart in hopes that it would lead him where the god wanted.

And soon enough he was out of Gryffindor Tower and drifting down the many corridors. There was a minor run-in with Peeves, but that was easily taken care of by the god, who whispered in the poltergeist's ear and telling him not to cause trouble unless he wanted his prankster days to be over for good.

Opening his heart, Ron could sense the veritable throb of life-force energy burning like a bonfire with these stone walls. It seemed strangely out of place for some reason…

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Yes"

"Well, umm… I was wondering," the astral boy asked, the question finally dawning on him after all this time. "Is there any reason why my friends and I are so different? I know we are suppose to fill some prophecy, but something just doesn't seem right"

"You are wondering why you of the Wizarding World were able to advance so quickly in the Shinobi World when it takes them so many years to accomplish such strength? You are also wondering why those of the Shinobi World were able to advance so quickly in the Wizarding World when magic is tricky for those not born with it innate?"

"You could put it that way, yes"

"It is quite simple" the god chuckled as Ron rounded another corridor and descended a flight of stairs. "There are those unique few who are naturally born special, like your friends for example. Then there are others that excel in certain areas - like that boy Rock Lee back in Konoha for instant"

"What about Lee?"

"Although it is it not known by the shinobi, his great grandparents on his mother's side were wizards - refuges during the time of the Great Wizarding War with the Dark Lord Grindelwald. They were unable to awaken their chakra channels, as it was for their daughter and their daughter's daughter and their daughter's, daughter's son. Lee's chakra channels are open a fraction thanks to his father and grandfather, thus aiding in his taijutsu training, but that is all"

"So you mean Lee's a wizard?" Ron asked, suddenly bursting out laughing.

"The power is latent, yes, and if the boy were to be taught, he could achieve great things. But his destiny lies elsewhere. He will never be a wizard, but perhaps his children or his children's children might one day be…"

"That's so bizarre. I'd be traumatized for life if I ever saw Lee as a wizard anyway"

Putting the conversation aside, Ron felt an icy shiver lance up his spine as he entered the infirmary. Lying in beds on the far end of the room near the windows overlooking the school grounds, were his brothers. As he got closer, it didn't take the redheaded astral traveler long to notice the dried blood that around their eyes.

Grimacing, Ron stopped and stood between their beds. The god had been right about something being wrong. Something was dreadfully wrong. In this heightened state he was in thanks to the fact that he was only composed of his spiritual essences, he could literately feel the vile energy surrounding them.

Reaching out and placing his see-through hands upon their heads, he closed his eyes. In an instant later, a powerful burst of light exploded around him, steaming directly from his brothers. When he opened his eyes again, they were black, shimmering like midnight jewels as they gazed upon the blue/white light. It was like that of pure chakra, but laced with strands gold. What as disturbing, however, was the spider web of purple/green that seemed to be channeling the light from their bodies, separating the gold from the blue/white and calling it away in different directions.

Ron pulled his hands away as if burnt.

Looking down at them, he noticed that they were.

"What happened?"

"You were in contacted with them too long. When touching it pure and undiluted, magic and chakra can leave an nasty burn"

"Did you just say magic and chakra?"

"Yes. As you've discovered, your brothers have been acting the role of channels for quite awhile now. From the looks of things, their Spirit Eyes have begun to awaken under the strain of having their life-force drained from them"

"Then that means - "

"Yes"

"Can't you do anything? You are a god, after all!"

There was a soft sigh.

"A god I may be, but I can only take life and give life. It is up to you now, now that you hold their fate in your hands. Save them and I will not have to take their lives"

"But what can I do?" Ron protested. "I have so many other things to do before the final battle!"

"It would appear that the final battle has already begun…"

"BUT IT CAN'T BE! WE HAVEN'T EVEN FIGURED OUT THE RIDDLE YET!"

Harry sighed as he listened to Hermione rant, burning trails in her wake as she paced the Hospital Wing in a fury. Ron, who had just finished telling her his nightly tale, was now currently ignoring her. He and Sakura were hard at work going over counter curses and counter jutsus to stop whatever was leeching the life from his brothers.

They all knew instinctively that Voldemort and Orochimaru were behind it. What didn't make sense though was that they attacking the twins. It was a weak link in their already complicated puzzle and it wasn't getting any easier.

For Harry, it reminded him of that time Dudley had forced him to put together his third grade History project - a 1000 piece puzzle of a map of the world. The porker had then been nasty enough to hide half the pieces on him, thus making his hunt for them and leaving him no time to work on his own History project, though he would find it completed the morning the project was due… like magic…

"ITS ALMOST AS IF - "

Hermione stopped dead in her tracks.

"THAT'S IT!" she squealed happily, dancing a 'happy dance' and at the same time, scaring everyone by the sudden mood swing. She then turned on the closest next to her "Harry! Sasuke! Take over! Ron! Sakura! Library - with me - now!"

Not bothering to wait for answer or protest, Hermione grabbed Ron and Sakura by the backs of their robes and dragged them out of the infirmary at top seed.

Naruto entered the infirmary seconds later, choking on her dust. "What was that all about?"

"I think she had an epiphany" Harry sighed, taking Ron's seat next to George's bed.

"Its about time her 'Inner Hermione' kicked in!"

He sat down next to Sasuke. "Any change?"

"No" the dark haired boy drawled. "The only thing we've detected is whets wrong with them. George is plagued by a Master level Draining Curse and Fred by a Kage level Siphon Seal. The more we try to brake them, the stronger they seam to get…"

The blonde fox-boy frowned.

"We could always asked otou-san for help"

"What could he do?"

Naruto laughed.

"Great Kami! After all this time, are you finally showing your inner dobe Sasuke? Everyone knows that otou-san is a Seal Master!"

The Uchiha glared.

"Where is he then?"

"…"

"Naruto…"

"…I have no clue…"

"Some help you are!"

"Will you two just shut up?" Harry snapped, his nerves frayed. "We'll find Minato sooner or later. Now I've already sent a letter to Sora with Hedwig to ask her if she can look clan's archives in Kusagakure. They guard some ancient tombs if wizarding spells that were salvaged after the Great Shinobi/Wizard War. With hope, one of them might hold the way to break George's curse"

"Shimata!"

The two brunettes looked at their blonde friend, who was currently fisting his knuckles.

"What?"

"It goes right back to that stupid prophecy again!"

Sasuke sweatdropped. "Which one?"

"The first one. Do remember the lines that say 'Be wary of the Dying Ones, whom power comes from all and none. So protect those precious to your heart, or Darkness shall weave its art…'? We haven't been paying enough attention to the prophecy! It was telling Harry and I to look out from our precious one. Fred and George were first, but whose next? I'll be damned if I let another friend get hurt because I was too stupid to figure it out before!"

"Naruto… you are stupid"

"WHY YOU!"

The young Jinchuuriki pounced, tackling his rival with extra force. The pair hit the floor, causing a mini dust storm and Harry to shake his head wearily. If he weren't immortal till he destroyed Voldemort, he'd be killing himself right now to end his misery…

"Boys!"

Naruto and Sasuke stopped fighting instantly, the elder of pair holding the younger in a headlock.

Rin had just entered the Hospital Wing and she had a look of almightily fury on her face rivaled any mother with a frying pan. Before they could move, the plum haired woman had the two boy by the ears, and was making sure to hold extra tight to Sasuke's, who had never had a woman (Risika didn't count) discipline him before - not even his own mother.

She growled angrily, and without further a due, tossed the pair onto separate beds were she conjured ropes and gags to keep them quite.

The very act itself caused Harry to burst out laughing. It was about time someone did it!

Rin turned on him, her wand pointed warningly. "You want to be next?"

"N-no, but I think Sirius might like it if you did. He mentioned it jokingly in his last letter"

She laughed softly.

"I'll never understand that man," she groaned. "I just got back from giving him another post-Azkaban checkup, as a matter of fact. He's just like Minato-sensei - too much of a troublemaker for his own"

"How is doing?"

"Very good considering. I was tempted to use a fire jutsu on that wretched portrait of the mother of his, but I fear I've grown rather rusty with the use of my chakra over the years"

Harry nodded. "Yeah. Ron explained the problem to me once. If you have the potential for both magic and chakra, you have to use them both constantly or else the one you were naturally born with begins to seal up. We actually think that the prolonged use of both talents will eventually create one power in itself. We even have a few magical jutsus we created to prove it"

"So you're created a new race of people?"

"Only time will tell, right?"

She smiled at him. "I guess that's - "

"Ms. Rin! Ms. Rin! Come quick - there's been another attack

Harry and Rin whirled around, and found themselves staring at a terrified Hufflepuff Prefect. Her chubby cheeks puffed with worry.

"Where?"

"Near the library"

"How many?"

"Four - a Ravenclaw and three Gryffindors"

"Who?"

Harry suddenly felt a sinking feeling in stomach. What had Naruto say only minutes? 'We haven't been paying enough attention to the prophecy! It was telling Harry and I to look out from our precious one. Fred and George were first, but whose next? I'll be damned if I let another friend get hurt because I was too stupid to figure it out before!'…

The girl looked down at the floor.

"Penelope Clearwater, Hermione Granger, Sakura Haruno and Ron Weasley"


	27. Chapter 27

Chapter Twenty Seven - A Devastating Discovery

It was an unearthly quite in the Hospital Wing that afternoon. While it had only been six days since the surprise petrifactions of Hermione, Sakura and Ron, it seemed like so much longer then that. The only person there besides those who hurt or petrified was Naruto, watching over them like a lonely sentinel, Harry and Sasuke elsewhere.

The shock of having their friends petrified had done a number on the three boys, which had affected the whole school soon after that. The tension within the stone walls of Hogwarts had reached its boiling point, and no one knew if they were safe at all. And after hearing the professors' whisper about closing the school down, Harry, Naruto and Sasuke seemed to be at each other's throats.

The sextette had been turned into a trio and the trio had been turned into three individuals with too many problems on their plates and not near enough patience to listen to what one another had to say.

So while Naruto had made it his job to watch over the Hospital Wing, oblivious to the fact that he still had class; Sasuke fought his own battle of trying to lift Ginny out an unexpected depression and hunt down the person that had ransacked his belongings two days ago (right now, however, he was playing Quidditch against Ravenclaw in hopes of venting some steam). And then there was Harry, who had, believe it or not, set up camp in the stacks of the school library, taking over in the research department since the brains of their operation were currently out of commission

All in all, it royally sucked.

He was the odd man out again - the one that always seemed to get in the way or didn't have a role to play. His team - his friends - had fallen apart. What had been the fire of the drive had burned out, leaving Naruto as the only one trying to warm himself before the dieing coals.

With a pained sigh, he stood from the bed and walked over to Hermione's frozen form.

"Please, Hermione" he whispered pleadingly, taking her unmoving hand in his own. "Please give me a sign. Without you guys, we're falling apart. Harry's practically gone crazy and Sasuke's returned to 'stoic brooding bastard mode'. If there's any way that you can impart some of wisdom to me, please do it now"

He waited a few moments, and then feeling rather foolish, he let go of her hand…

And a piece of folded parchment fluttered to the floor.

"Nani?"

He bent down and picked up. As he began to unfold it…

"Naruto, why you're still here?"

He turned sharply, forgetting about the parchment instantly as found Rin walking into the infirmary, her arms laden with a large box full of medical potions and supplies. The older woman would have looked perfectly fine if it wasn't for the fact that her normally immaculate purple hair was out of place in several places and a vain was throbbing dangerously on her forehead.

"Keeping vigil," he replied dryly. "So, Snape-sensei again?"

"Unfortunately" the medic replied, setting her box down. "That pompous snake had to make some very condescending and chauvinistic comments when I went to retrieve the pasteurized Mandrake root I had liquefied for the De-petrifaction Potion I've been working on"

"What did you say back?"

She smiled a very scary smile. "Nothing really - just a genjutsu…"

Naruto instantaneously mirrored her smiled.

"Which one?"

"The Demonic Illusion"

He burst out laughing.

"Awesome! That's just about as good as the time Tsunade-obaachan canned in one for calling her a floozy!"

That caused Rin to gasp in shock. The very mention that the greasy bastard had dared to compare one of her idols to a prostitute was way beyond the limit. Naruto gazed at her with a bemused expression as he watched the myriad of emotions cross her face.

"Rin-neechan?"

"He is soo dead!" Rin snarled. "Tsunade-sama may have canned him one, but I'll make sure to remove any chance he may have at contributing to the gene pool!"

Gasping, Naruto just knew he had created a recipe for disaster. Although he hated Snape as much as any non-Slytherin within Hogwarts, he couldn't let her loose her job because of it. So before the plum haired woman could storm out of Hospital Wing in a cloud of rage, he jumped off it bed and caught her in a full body tackle.

It was a good thing that she hadn't been keeping up with her former kunoichi lifestyle, or she would have hurt him instead. Lying in a twisted head on the floor, Naruto leaped back, a nervous grin slowing spreading across his face. It totally didn't help that she was currently looking at him with murder in her eyes…

"Otouto…"

The blonde chuckled uneasily. "G-gomen Rin-neechan," he whimpered, backing away from the medic as she slowly (dangerously) began to get to her feet. "But it was for a good cause!"

And then he screamed.

Dodging her attack, Naruto acted as if there was a fire and proceeded to 'stop, drop and roll'. That very act more a less saved the blonde fox-boy's life, seeing as he rolled under the nearest OCCUPIED bed and was thus saving himself from the raging Rin's wrath.

It was also the same moment that his father chose to enter the Hospital Wing.

"Rin, are you trying to kill my musuko?"

Had Naruto been in his father's position, he would have thought it quite comical to watch as the enraged medic, who was now on her hands and knees trying to get at him, whirl around looking up at her former sensei like a little kid with their hand caught in the cookie jar.

Fortunately, he wasn't because if he had been, he would have laughed at her. Unfortunately, his father was, and he had made the mistake of laughing at her.

So it worked out perfectly in the end for Naruto. Rin forgot about her anger towards him, and his father was the one that received the beating instead.

Ten minutes later, Naruto found himself sitting next to the older blonde, grinning like a madman. "Nice shiner otou-san"

"Laugh it up wise guy" Minato muttered, gingerly applying an icy icepack to a tender blackened eye.

"Too bad it was the medic you had you had to piss off right?"

"Yeah…"

The younger blonde laughed out loud.

"I think the same thing of Sakura…" he trailed off, casting a glance over at the prone petrified pink haired girl across the room. "She has the most talent as a medic out of the six of us…" he trailed off again as he looked first to Ron and Hermione, then out the window towards the Quidditch pitch were Sasuke was playing, and finally towards the library were Harry had been for the last five days strait.

It seemed to hit him all at once.

For the first time since Team Seven had been formed and then when they had agreed to trade places with those who would become Team Seven ½, he was truly alone. With Ron, Hermione and Sakura petrified, Harry and Sasuke had practically abandoned him in there own quests…

Then if someone had turned a light on his head, he remembered the parchment he still held in his hand.

Hurriedly opening it, he gave the page a once over, and as his eyes widened, he left his father sitting dumbfounded in his dust.

"I know what the monster is! I know what the monster from the Chamber of Secrets is!"

Harry and Sasuke found themselves staring speechlessly at a bouncing Naruto half an hour later. As soon as Sasuke's Quidditch match was over, the hyper blonde had literately dragged him away from the pitch at top speeds and up to Harry in the library.

"How?" the dark haired Uchiha demanded, surprised and more then a little jealous that it had to be the dobe who made the discovery.

"I didn't! Hermione did!"

And while they stared at him like he had grown another head, Naruto brandished a piece of parchment.

"This has been in her hand the whole time" he replied gasping for breath. "They knew they monster was and that was why they were only petrified!"

"Only petrified?" Harry asked. "What kind of monster are you talking about?"

"The kind of monster that has everything to this!"

And then Naruto began to read from the page.

'Of the many fearsome beasts and monsters that roam our land,

there is none more curious or more deadly than the Basilisk,

known also as the King of Serpents. This snake, which may

reach gigantic size and live many hundreds of years, is born from

a chicken's egg, hatched beneath a toad. Its methods of killing

are most wondrous, for aside from its deadly and venomous

fangs, the Basilisk has a murderous stare, and all who are fixed

with the beam of its eye shall suffer instant death. Spiders flee

before the Basilisk, for it is their mortal enemy, and the Basilisk

flees only from the crowing of the rooster, which is fatal to it'

"A snake!" Sasuke hissed. "It had to be a snake!"

Harry nodded, looking rather green. "Yes and it explains everything. The lack of spiders, the deaths of Hagrid's roosters, the petrifactions - none of the victims were looking at it directly - and not to forget the fact that we have two crazy snake-like men are after us…"

They looked at Naruto, who was looking a little befuddled.

"What?"

"'Hatched beneath a toad'?" he muttered.

Seconds later he bit his thumb.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

In a flash and a poof of smoke, the three boys found themselves staring down at a particular orange frog.

"Why do always get you?" Naruto sighed, looking down at Gamakichi with a frown.

"How am I suppose to know?" the little frog snapped. "Now this had better be good"

"Don't worry 'Kichi, it is" the blonde replied gravely, picking up the frog and placing him on his shoulder as the three boys left the library at a run. "Tell me, what do you know of the Basilisk?"

Gamakichi gasped, his eyes going wide. "How do you know that name?"

"Just tell us what you know brat! We have places to go!" Sasuke snapped.

The frog glared at the Uchiha, then shuddered.

"Very well. The Basilisk is what caused the feud between the Toads and Snakes. Millennia ago, when the Snake boss Manda and his mate were blessed with their first clutch, a tragedy took place. It had been during a time of war for us summoning creatures and the Hawk boss Takayama chose it as the opportune time to attack…" Gamakichi paused, looking away.

"Takayama destroyed almost the entire clutch, save for twelve eggs. A thirteenth also survived, but it was separated from the others and thus would not have lived. It was a fourth cousin of mine named Gamaren that took pity on the egg. Since she was unable to have children of her own, she saved the unborn Snake were other would have not. Sadly, the very act of her kindness caused a terrible reaction. When the egg hatched, the first Basilisk was born"

"What happened?" Harry whispered, suddenly enthralled by the tale, though still managing to navigate the corridors.

"Gamaren was a Toad, and her influence had 'deformed' the new Snake. Basilisk was unlike any Snake before him, whither Summon or natural - he was a monster. The moment he laid on his new 'mother', she died. When Manda got word that a Toad had hatched one of his children, he went ballistic. He denied Basilisk a place among the rest of the Snakes, claiming that he was 'more Toad then Snake'. With the Snakes wanting nothing to do with him and the Toads terrified of him, he banished to this plane. Since the death of the first, we have heard of no other Basilisks, since no Toad with dare hatch one of his young"

"Well its happened" Naruto snorted. "Because there's one here - in Hogwarts"

Gamakichi's eyes widened again. "Shimata! I have to tell otou-san!"

Before they could stop him, the frog was gone.

"Kuso!"

Sasuke fisted his knuckles.

"Now we can't ask him where would be the best place to find it!"

"Hermione already knew that too"

He turned at looked at Naruto, who was holding the paper out to him. One the bottom of the page was a single word in Hermione's neat handwriting.

Pipes.

"And how would we go about getting into the pipes?"

He did have point.

Then Harry smiled. "You remember telling us that the diary told you a student had died because of it fifty years ago right?"

Sasuke frowned. "So?"

"Well what ghost in Hogwarts has been around that long and is still young? Also, who's bathroom did you find the diary?"

"Please don't tell me you mean Moaning Myrtle!"

"Exactly!"

The three boys looked at each other, smiles suddenly crossing their faces - they had hit the jackpot! But as suddenly as they excitement bloomed, it withered along with the magically projected sound of Professor McGonagall's voice.

"All students are to return to their house dormitories at once. All teacher return to the staff room. Immediately please"

"Oh God" Harry blanched. "It has to have been another attack!"

"What do we do then?"

"Tell the teachers what we know of course!"

It took the boys only a few minutes to reach the staff room, where the sound of voices could be heard within. As Harry prepared to knock, Professor McGonagall's voice could be heard once more, only this time muffled by the door.

"It's happened again," the elderly woman was saying. "Another student has been attacked by the monster, only this time they've been taken…"

The sound of gasps and cries of horror could be heard now, along with Snape saying something like 'how she could be sure'.

"There was a message left on the wall… its said 'Her skeleton shall lie in the Chamber forever. It was Chamber of Secrets all along - just like the last time!"

There was crying now.

"Who is it?" was Madam Hooch asking "Which student?"

The next words came as a directly blow to one of the three boy in particular.

"Ginny Weasley"

It was at that moment Sasuke found himself wanting to cry.

And then he was gone.

The staff room was in an uproar. Rin and Minato had joined all the other teachers as soon as they heard the announcement, and it wasn't one that pleased them at all. Of the pair, the blonde Hokage was the only one that knew the full implications of what this meant. He knew what the effects of the Uchiha Massacre nearly four years ago had done to Sasuke and it only been in this past year that the boy had begun to recover.

He also knew how important the young redhead had been to the boy.

"What do you mean again?" he asked, his words silencing the rest of room.

His gaze wandered before falling on Dumbledore.

The older man's face remained natural, but his eyes had lost their twinkle. "There was a case in which students were attacked here at Hogwarts fifty years ago. While I was suspicious, the evidence was inconclusive"

"Inconclusive my ass!" the blonde snapped.

"Minato-sensei!" Rin gasped, jabbing him in the side.

"No," he growled, giving her a warning glare. "He knew all along what was happening. If you had told us, my musuko and friends wouldn't have been running a wild goose chase trying to figure it out! Where is this Chamber and why do I get the feeling this has to do with Orochimaru?"

"Who's Orochimaru?"

Minato was about to make a reply when Dumbledore beat him to it.

"One of two remaining Heirs of Slytherin" the elderly wizards replied. "He is directly related to Voldemort as descendants of Salazar Slytherin. He has made a name for himself as a Dark Lord of the same caliber as his last living blood relation. Why we had not heard of him here in England is due to the fact that he hails from the Japan and works more discreetly then Voldemort. Although it not well known that the pair hate each other, they have in the past year struck an alliance due to common goals"

This caused another uproar as the staff voiced their fears and Snape, glowered in the corner with a look utmost outraged betrayal written all over him.

The blonde had had enough of this.

"But never did tell me were is this Chamber of Secrets is"

Dumbledore sighed.

"That's because we don't know…"


	28. Chapter 28

Chapter Twenty Eight - Facing One's Fears

As Ginny slowly began to come to, she could smell the dank aroma of stagnant water and decay. Although she knew it wasn't normal to wakeup smelling such things, her head hurt far too much for her to even want to think. And as she lies there, her strength slowly started to return.

"Oh God no…" she whimpered, raising herself up onto her elbows.

She remembered the diary.

If it hadn't been for the dairy, none of this would have happened. It was painfully clear now that she was the weak link - the betrayer. If it weren't for her, all the petrified students along with Ron, Hermione and Sakura would be aright…

Two months ago, not long before she had first really met the three Japanese exchange students, Sasuke in particular, she had found an old diary among her schoolbooks. When she wrote in it the first time, and it had written back, she had decided that she had found a friend. The boy on the 'other side' seemed to give her some kind of companionship when writing in those pages he helped to keep her lonely heart occupied. Soon enough though, she would begin to suffer from mild memory loss.

As Ginny began to have trouble recalling what she did at night, the first of eight Muggleborn students had been petrified. There had been one morning in which she were awoken to find her hands covered in blood, only to find out later that day that all of Hagrid's roosters, including the chickens, had been slaughtered.

She was terrified with what was happening, but then it seemed to stop after she met Sasuke. It must have been her lack of writing in the dairy that had caused her to regain control over her own body. For the first time all year, there was a real flesh and blood person willing to talk with her. Elated in finally finding a kindred spirit, she had perused this wonderfully new anomaly. The more she got to know the dark haired boy, the more she began to understand why he was so unlike anyone she had ever met before.

Although the Sasuke she knew and had grown to love was only a magical clone, she knew that things would get better once the real one returned. Along with her bother Ron, Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and the other two exchange students, the real Sasuke had returned to Hogwarts. It had taken some time for him to adjust to his clone's little 'escapade', but he had expected. That in itself had given Ginny the strength to try and flush the diary down the toilet, so that she would never have to see it again.

But it wasn't so simple.

Apparently Sasuke and his friends had returned to find out who or what was petrifying the students. He had found the dairy soon after she flushed it and was terrified that it would tell him that she was the perpetrator. What would he do if he knew? He had told her that he was a ninja and that it was his job to catch villains and if necessary, kill them.

Then it had happened once again. Even without the dairy, it happened again. Because of that, Ron, Hermione and Sakura were now among the petrified. Since she knew it was all her fault, Ginny was determined to get the dairy back, even if she had to steal it from Sasuke… and that was the last thing she remembered doing.

Ginny sighed.

Giving her eyes the time to adjust, she noted that she appeared to be in some sort over large chamber - something that was defiantly not apart of Hogwarts. It was dark, save for a few lit torches and water that reflected the light.

Getting to her feet and wiping her slimy hands on the side of her robes, the red haired girl took a deep breath to keep her heart pounding from beating fast it would beat its way out of her chest. Calmed, or at least what passed for clam, Ginny walked towards what looked like a large circular door. She was disappointed to discover that it had had no handle…

"You stink of fear, child"

Ginny gasped. Whirling around, the redhead looked wildly around her. "W-who's there?"

"Wouldn't you like to know…"

The mysterious voice seemed to come from every direction at once and that served to only confuse her further. Backing away from the door, she backtracked to where she had woken up only to hear a soft dragging noise fill the chamber. Ginny suddenly went rigid, the hair on the back of her neck standing on end as she sensed something very big come up behind her.

Ever so slowly, she began to turn.

"If you want to live," the voice said. "Close your eyes"

Instinctively she closed them tight. "W-why?"

"Because one look into my eyes would stop your heart. Have you ever heard the legend of Medusa?"

"Y-yes. She was Gorgon of Greek mythology. One look at her would turn men to stone"

The creature behind her moved, brushing lightly against her arm as it began to circle her like a predator with its pray.

"Then have you heard of the Basilisk as well?"

"Yes"

"Then tell me"

Ginny swallowed. "I only know a little. The Basilisk is a massive snake that has the power to kill with a single glance…"

"Good. Now you know why you mustn't look me in the eye. It is a dreadful, to be a Basilisk"

She opened her eyes and gazed at the floor, raising them enough to discover that she was currently trapped within the center of a massive coiled snake, its dark green scales shimmering dully in the torchlight. She tried to scream, but her voice seemed trapped in her throat and she was unable to utter a word.

The Basilisk, its head now resting near its middle, grunted and shook its head.

"No need to get so need to be so overdramatic girl" its sighed, almost sounding board. "I'm not going to eat you"

"Y-you t-talk?" she stuttered incoherently as she gagged that its body height was at least fifteen feet above her head.

"You were talking to me a few seconds ago and it didn't matter. Are you dunce or something?"

"No, b-but how can I u-understand you? I'm not a P-Parseltongue!"

"Well you'd be a fool if you thought you were" the snake replied with snorting hiss. "I happen to speaking your language girl"

"B-but how?"

She watched as its large tail flicked back and forth with annoyance.

"You have to be the most pathetic human I have ever met. Even as slave to the Slytherin clan, I had more intelligent conversations with all my masters. Now I'll only say it once. I can talk because all Snakes can talk. I don't mean your garden verity, but the magical ones. We just don't want to. But I am not a normal Snake - not even by normal or magical point of views. Do you understand?"

Ginny nodded numbly, unable to tell if the beast had seen it not.

"Good" it continued. "Like I said before, I am a Basilisk. There has only ever been four of my kind, since it is ever so rare that we are ever given the right conditions to hatch. But we are special. I retain the memoirs of my forefathers - cursed it is, to be a Basilisk"

Now she was puzzled. Cursed?

"What do you mean?"

"We have been forsaken. How would you like it if your turned their backs on you, cursing the day you were born and condemning you to a life of solitude?"

Those words were so hollow it caused her to shiver.

"I see you understand. Back when the first Basilisk was banished to this realm, he met the first of the Slytherin lineage. The first Slytherin offered him a home in this world - the only home he had ever know. In bowing to the first as his master, the wild magics served to bind him, and his children after him, to that clan. Until the last of the Slytherin blood has left this earth, I shall never be free. Such is your fate as well girl"

She remembered the diary then. "But I was possessed or something!"

"That matters not" the Basilisk replied. "I know you do not remember what you did under the influence of the Heir, but you were the one who summoned me from my slumber. It was you who commanded my to attack muggle-born of this school. Possessed by the Heir you may have been, but regretfully, you had given yourself over willingly as you did unknowingly…"

And the snake turned to her, its eyes closed.

"And that means you are his tool now"

"Exactly"

Ginny gasped at the sound of another voice and jerked around, only to be met with darkness…

Sasuke practically flew through the corridors and passages of Hogwarts, his heart pounding with a fear he had only felt once before. It was the same feeling he had had when he had come home that fateful day his clan had been slaughtered - the same feeling as he had been faced with the truth that it was his own beloved older brother who had done the deed.

Never before this moment could he say that he had loved Ginny. He had cared for her yes, as the red haired girl had offered him a companionship he had never before experienced. But as the days went by, she slowly become more then just a friend. She what Naruto, Sakura, Harry, Ron and Hermione had become - family. Ginny had become to him something like a sister…

But even now that concept seemed to change. Not a sister, for she understood a side of him that no sister ever could. She fell into the indefinable category - she simply owned a different part of his heart.

"Sasuke! Wait up!"

The dark haired boy didn't even bother to acknowledge the two other boys behind him. From what he could sense though, Naruto and Harry were at least a good five feet in the wake of his rush. It didn't matter really. They knew where he was going.

"I'm not slowing down!" he shouted without turning back. "You'll just have to set on it!"

It didn't take long after that to reach their final destination. As soon as the third floor Girl's Washroom came into view, Sasuke began to breath a little easier, if that was at all possible. The three boys burst into the washroom, panting and franticly looking around for something that might reveal a way into the Chamber of Secrets.

:What are you doing in here:

The trio whirled around and let out an anticlimactic breath. Hovering before them was Moaning Myrtle, the Girl's Washroom's ghost.

"Looking for a secret passage"

:Perverts:

Sasuke glared at her. "You are the pervert"

Myrtle grumbled and crossed her arms.

:So? I have been permanently stuck in the moment of teenage awkwardness and raging hormones for the past fifty years! What the hell do you think I'm supposed to do for entertainment:

The boys gagged, allowing Naruto to curl his lip and add. "Geeze! She'd get along great with ero-sennin!"

She smiled then.

:Oh! You mean Jiraiya: she giggled with a silvery blush. :I helped him right his most current novel, you know! When he get gets that book published, will you please bring me a copy:

The only thought running their minds at that moment was 'she likes older men!' and 'hell! If she was still alive, she'd be olderthen that pervert!'

"What the hell?" Harry shuddered. "You can't be serious!"

:But I am:

Sasuke growled. "Enough already! You died here fifty years ago right? Well what if I told you we have a chance at getting back at your killer?"

Myrtle froze, her eyes narrowing behind her gaudy glasses.

:You're lying…:

"On my honor, I do not lie. Now please tell us everything you know!"

:Over there: she said, turning and pointing at the far sinks. :When I died, it came from that direction. All I remember is a pair of large yellow eyes:

"Good enough"

The trio rushed over to the sinks and began examining them. A few seconds later, Naruto struck gold.

"There's a snake engraved here, on the faucet!"

"Excellent! Now what?"

:You could try talking to it: Myrtle replied. :I actually do remember hearing a strange hissing noise:

Naruto and Sasuke looked at Harry, who backed away. "What?"

"You can talk snake. Talk to the faucet!"

"Do you realize how crazy that sounds?"

"JUST DO IT!"

"Alright already!" the raven-haired wizard snapped. "Open!"

"That was in English…"

"Oh shut up, I am trying!"

Focusing on the engraving, Harry tried to imagine that it was a real snake.

"Open!"

The words came out in a whispery hiss, like that of a snake's, and soon enough the sinks rose apart and separated to reveal a big dank dark pipe. Having done his job, Harry smiled grimly at his friends. "So, who's going in first?"

Meanwhile, a very frustrated Minato had sensed the boys' departure soon after they had heard of Ginny Weasley's fate.

Although it had taken him five extra minutes that he wasn't able to spare, he had followed them the best he could. Their trail had lead to the third floor, and into a Girl's Washroom of all places. It just happened to be the haunted washroom that housed a homely little girl that had a problem almost anyone.

Today it was empty, save for the biggest hint that they ha been there which was a large pipe magically revealed from behind a row of sinks.

Damn! Why had they not waited for him? The answer was obvious, but it didn't leave him feeling any better. No, for all the strength physically or mentally that Naruto and friends possessed, they were no match for what lay in wait for them. It was something, that as a father, he could sense.

Throwing all thought of getting his nice clean cloths dirty, the blonde leaped into the pipe and proceeded to receive the best amusement ride ever! When he finally landed, he was met by the foul smell, the bones and sight of massive sheded snakeskin.

What ever shed those must be huge…

"Damn you, you idiot kids," he muttered, starting off in the direction of the chakra sources. "You'd better not get yourselves killed"

Once again the trio, plus one annoying ghost, found themselves met with an obstacle. Before them at the end of their journey was an ornate circular door, decorated with a pair of large carved snakes. The sight of the serpents caused the small group to shudder, especially Moaning Myrtle since she had met her death by one.

So as a test run to see what was on the other side, they had Myrtle try to phase though the door, but found that it was protected by such a strong magic that not even her metaphysical body could pass beyond it. Once again, it was put to Harry to talk to the door to get it open, thus revealing a large dimly lit chamber beyond.

"Ginny!"

Curled up on the chamber floor, her hair fanning out like flames around her was Ginny.

As soon as they entered the chambered, however, the door swung shut behind them, causing the cavern to shake around them. Sasuke ignored all this and ran to the unconscious girl's side, trying to shake her awake.

"Ginny, Ginny - wakeup!"

She didn't respond.

"She won't be waking up any time soon" a voice from deep with the chamber replied in her stead. "The Sleeping Curse used on her is of the highest caliber - not even 'truelove's first kiss' could wake this 'sleeping beauty' from her slumber"

"Damn you! How's there?"

"Just as inquisitive I see. No matter, it was expected"

And slithering out of the gapping maw before them was massive snake. Panicking, the three boys closed their eyes and felt for weapons (to their horror found not but their wands) and Myrtle screamed, vanishing in her terror.

"Katon: Tsume sano Kasairyuu no Jutsu!" Sasuke yelled, the massive fiery claws descending upon its target. But with a flick of its tail, the Basilisk broke apart the attack into a thousand tiny burning embers.

Angry that his attack had had no effect, the dark haired Uchiha changed his tactic. This creature would take more then just a normal jutsu to beat.

"Kijutsu Katon: Hinote Yaiba no Kaganami!"

Naruto and Harry gasped, shocked that Sasuke had resorted, even in the face of such a monstrous beast, to use one of their original magical jutsus. Much like its sibling technique of the Kijutsu Fuuton: Tengoku-taki Boufuu, the Kijutsu Katon: Hinote Yaiba no Kaganami became like a storm of slashing winds. Only this time it made up of fiery sickle-shaped blades.

The inferno seemed to rotate around the furious boy until it exploded outward, washing over the giant unmoving snake, causing bloody rents to form on its scales and for its hide to lightly char. But in wise of performance, it did not harm the Basilisk.

And exasperate sigh followed.

"What is it with the youth these days?" the Basilisk muttered, shacking its head as a green glow covered its body and it began to heal.

Really scared now, Sasuke took Ginny into his arms and began backing away.

"I am surrounded by fools. You know very well boy that I am not your real enemy. Do you sense any killing intent? No, you do not. Why? Because I do not wish to kill you. I have also not been thus ordered, and I will not until my master deems it so"

Naruto frowned. "But you petrified all those students!"

"Because I was ordered to," the snake hissed. "By the girl in that boy's arms"

Sasuke's head snapped up. "LIAR! Ginny would never do a thing like that!"

"Yet she did, at least not of her own accord - I've told her that much. It is the work of the one who controls me, for he has used her as his puppet and it had lead you down here. The battle shall be grand…"

"What battle?" Harry asked, coming up to Sasuke's said.

"Why the battle of the outranks all battles. A war that has been being fought for over one thousand years"

"But that doesn't make any sense" Naruto pointed out, pointing his wand at the snake.

"But it does. Tell me, how much do you really know about your enemies?"

"What does it matter?"

"You know boys," it said. "I find you interesting. I can tell that you and your friends want answers - I can give them to you"

Sasuke stared at the snake suspiciously. "And how can we trust that you'll tell us the truth?"

"You don't, but if you listen, you might learn why you should"

The boys looked at each other uncertainly. Finally, Sasuke nodded. "Very well"

"Good. Now gather around," the Basilisk replied. "And I will tell you a tale which is not for the faint of heart. It is a true story of wizard and a shinobi, both who lusted for power. It was during the bygone centuries before your time that this ill-fated pair met and joined together in an unholy partnership that would plague both their races to this very day. But their scheme was doomed from the start. Never would it came to pass because of their children, their sons - the Dying Ones - Brom Slytherin and Dokuno Nyoko…"


	29. Chapter 29

Chapter Twenty Nine - Of Serpentine Descent

There is a story for everyone. A tale that tells of their worldly deeds, wither they be good or evil. Some stories tell of torment, of passion, of loss, and/or of triumph - and sadly the tale I am about to tell deals with them all.

Once upon a time, over a thousand years ago, there was a cruel man who had long possessed a goal of ruling the world. He was a cruel, cunning and unforgiving man, with powers that were far greater then the lesser man and there were few in the world that had ever been able to match him in strength.

To the Wizarding World who knew him well, he was Salazar Slytherin, the Son of the Serpents. He was known for his wickedness and the search for ultimate power that would inevitably lead to the destruction of the world itself.

It was all due to his belief that a race know as the Muggles, a people with forever dormant abilities, had no place in his world. He hated them because of he believed them to be 'imperfect', though while they did not possess a magic like his own, they could create marvels unlike any other race to come before them. That of course didn't matter to a man that was willing to commit mass genocide to accomplish his foul means.

And there were few that escaped his wrath, as he also believed The Muggle-born, those born with power to those who had none, he deemed tainted his perfect purity as well.

And for the pureblood wizards that fought back against him, they were no better.

Truly, he was someone to be feared.

But there was a time during his youth that he hid his other side. Although few knew it at the time, he was a 'god-blessed' child, an inheritor of one of the great Wizarding Bloodlines that had dwindled to few since the primeval wars. His was the gift of Parseltongue, the ancient language of the Snakes. Seeking those that shared similar talents, he befriended three others and together they would become the powerful quartet in Wizarding History.

Sadly though when one lusts power, the peace never lasts for long and is shattered turbulently. That was how it become that he abandoned his precious ones - his foster siblings Godric, Rowena and Helga as well as the school that had created together.

And so it was then that began to wander the world, thus leading him in his travels the forgotten.

But who were these forgotten people?

His travels would take him deep into Asia and it was there that he stumbled upon another race of humans - not wizards, but not powerless like the wretched muggles. He became one of the first wizards in many generations to survive an encounter with the very race that his own people had warred with many centuries before.

"There is no love and there is no hate - there is only passion. It is the driving force behind all our decisions, because with our passion, our destiny is determined. It is only a matter of those who cultivate their inner talents and use them for the purpose they were given - to create a world in which those with the spirit shall take back what has been taken from us. Those without passion do not deserve to apart of such a glorious design" - Dokuno Aiyoku

They were the Shinobi - prefect warriors with the incredible ability to wield the power of their own life-force. It was thanks only to one warrior, a young woman by the name of Dokuno Aiyoku that he survived. Like Salazar, Aiyoku also possessed the linguistic powers of the Parseltongue as well as an inborn snake-like appearance.

While she fooled her own people cleverly, Salazar wasn't one to be fooled by her cleverly fragile appearance. She was like him; a snake of the highest caliber possessed a serpent's immensely powerful and tyrannically strategically mind.

Never had he imagined that here he would meet such an ideal match. And with his offer of unimaginable power, she joined him in his quest to rule the world.

But it would however, never come to be.

Their goals cut short with the birth of their children, identical twins that they would name Brom and Nyoko. Although the boys appeared perfect in every way - a flawlessly pale raven-haired matching pair. Sons and heirs to their parent's legacy. The dream of ruling the wizarding, shinobi, and muggle worlds… was shattered by this simple birth.

One son was pure wizard.

The other son was pure shinobi.

Never before had there been anything like this. In the days after their arrival into the living world, it was discovered that their elder son Brom lacked chakra channels completely and their younger son Nyoko lacked a magical core. It would seem something of impossibility; after all, no human had ever been born without the set.

So it would be these two children that would change everything. Since it had been the hopes of Salazar and Aiyoku that their sons would be born with full access to both chakra and magic, they were devastated.

It had been a very thing baffled all the medi-witches and medic-nins that had over seen the birth of the Slytherin heirs (that is, before they were put to death for knowing too much). There was no possible way that a human could be born without both chakra channels and a magical core. What set the human race apart was that shinobi were born with their chakra channels open and their magical cores closed; wizards were born with their chakra channels closed and their magical cores open; and muggles were born with both their chakra channels and magical cores closed.

But no human to ever just have one and that was what made it so painfully clear…

It would appear that each child, although born within separate bodies, shared a soul - each owning nothing more than a piece.

Then the trouble began. Only weeks old, the boys had begun to harm each other - fighting for the simple reason that the other possessed half of what they were missing. Terrible as it was, it would seem that they were innocuously trying to kill one another in order to be reunited with the other half of their soul. It sealed their fate then and so it was decided that the twins had to be separated.

Distraught and enraged, Aiyoku took Nyoko and fled back to her homeland in the Elemental Countries, cursing her husband as she left Brom to be raised by Salazar. Safely the pair would grow, apart, but always seeking their other half.

And so they would forge their own great destinies, one as Brom Slytherin and the other as Dokuno Nyoko.

But they would always have that connection - that pure diluted twin bond - that one thing that told them that they had a rival. Years would pass before either boy, now man, would come to face each other for the first time in only days after their birth.

And it was a shame, because they had always been destined to do great things…

"I am a man of power. It is my destiny to purge this world of those who are tainted and unworthy. I will succeed in creating for myself the ultimate society and none that stand against me shall dare challenge my authority as I shall rule supreme over them all" - Brom Slytherin

It was inevitable that one day they would fight.

As the years progressed, they become exceedingly aware that they were not alone. Whilst one slept, he would be privy to a world unlike his own through the eyes of the other. It would be an experience they were unwilling to share with their respective parent, as they knew they could not trust them with such volatile information.

"I am a man of passion. It is my destiny to cultivate what others do not consider relevant. I will succeed in creating for myself the ultimate weapon and none that stand against me shall depart this world without knowing that I am the true master of them all" - Dokuno Nyoko

And yet as they years progressed and the older they grew, it would become apparent that they be beset by a terrible curse. Apparently bearing only a half a soul was devastating their mortal bodies. By they're twenties, their bodies had begun to self-decay and who soon leave them in hollow husks that would soon kill them.

It was, however, discovered by Brom, that the curse could be ended. Unfortunately, it meant that he would have to kill the one that was draining his life away.

"If I kill you, then I become more powerful then I ever imagined"

"And what gave you that idea?"

"Because once you are dead, your half of our soul will return to me. Once that is done, I will be the son my father always wanted me to be"

"Then that gives me even more incentive to kill you wizard-scum. Once I am complete, I will someone my okaa-sama can be proud of"

They would kill each other in the end, but such hate never rests. Through their children and their children's children, their hate would live on, and while each side hated one another, two pieces of a single soul would be waiting for the chance to fight again…

"Do you understand now?"

Harry, Naruto and Sasuke sat in silence. The trio had been listening avidly to the Basilisk's story for almost an hour now. It answered many questions into the backgrounds of their enemies.

"So you mean this has been being planned for over a thousand years now?" Harry asked, chewing on his thumbnail as he began to dread the implications this snake was providing.

"Very much so" the Basilisk nodded. "Why do you think that I am here? I am just as much of a pawn in this never-ending sibling spat as yourselves. You two curse-marked boys represent Brom and Nyoko's inability to gain immortality while the blonde Jinchuuriki a power they have always wanted"

Naruto gasped. "How did you know I was a Jinchuuriki?"

"I sense many things boy. Besides, all summoning creatures can sense both their godly and demon brethren, no matter what form they might be in"

"You said before that you were a pawn like us. How so?"

Sasuke suddenly had the attention directed to him.

The great snake cocked its massive head to the side, its eyes still closed. "How so?" it chucked. "I am bound by my predecessor's to serve the Slytherin clan"

"Can it be broken?"

"Such a thing is impossible. The first Slytherin decreed that the contract between his blood and mine should only become void once his blood no longer runs within the veins of a descendant"

"Is there any clauses? Every contract has a loophole"

They could almost see the snake's eyes rolling behind their scaly lids.

"Another impossibility. The only clause in my contract is being able to look into the eyes of the living and not kill them. As you see, that's impossible"

Sasuke frowned. He had look on his face that clearly revealed that he was thinking hard about something. Then suddenly his serious face lit up and he looked to Naruto and Harry.

"Both of you could try"

"What?" Harry yelped. "Have you gone crazy?"

Naruto nodded.

"Don't you understand?" Sasuke groused. "Both of you have a power that could sustain the effects of the Basilisk's killing stare. Remember what Ron was saying about you being immortal Harry?"

"Uh yeah, but that's only till Voldemort is dead"

"Yes, till Voldemort is dead. When he tried to kill you with the Killing Curse, it rebounded. You can't die until you've defeated him!"

"What about me?"

The dark haired boy looked at the blonde.

"Another perfect example. Harry isn't the only one to have survived the Killing Curse. You have too. Remember the Chuunin Exams? You defected the curse with your Boenkyou because it is the ultimate inborn shield!"

"I chose the scared kid"

The trio turned back to the Basilisk.

"Why?"

"If its true what you say, then I'd rather have it that the kid trying to release me from my binding isn't going to reflect my stare back at me and kill me"

Naruto shrugged. "He has a point"

Harry stood there, his mouth hanging open.

"You don't have to try it if you don't want to kid - I'll understand" the snake said, its whispery voice no more then a breathy hiss.

He looked back up at the snake. For some reason, he could almost feel the Basilisk's hope deflate like a burst balloon. It kind of reminded of him when he met that boa constrictor that time at the zoo with the Dursleys two years ago. Even though the magic had been accidental, he had save that snake.

"I'll do what I can"

The Basilisk's reared back in shock. "You're a Speaker?" it hissed. "Impossible! Only the Slytherins and the Dokuno have possessed that gift!"

"Yeah, it has its ups and downs. Turns out I got my Parseltongue as a 'parting gift' from Voldemort the first time I defeated him?"

"That name, Voldemort is it?"

"Yes"

"It seems that Brom has gotten creative in this life…"

"WHAT?"

Harry sudden outburst caused Naruto and Sasuke to nearly jump out their skin, and the latter to nearly drop the unconscious girl in arms.

"What do you mean Brom?"

"Weren't you listening to a word I said?" the Basilisk hissed, speaking in English as well. "The twins have been waiting centuries to be reborn. Since both the wizard and shinobi lines of the Slytherin clan have run down to the last two descendants, they have been reborn! Hasn't ever seemed a little weird? Thomas Riddle is the reincarnation of Brom Slytherin and Daishikon Orochimaru is the reincarnation of Dokuno Nyoko!"

"Oh shit!" Naruto cried.

"The Dying Ones!" Sasuke nodded. "It makes sense now! Dumbledore-sama said they were dying become those that search for immortally are always dieing - he didn't take into account that they'd already be dieing because of they only had a half a soul!"

"But if they want to kill each other, why use us?" Harry snapped.

"Because it has been all a matter of playing the game right"

The three boy gasped, whirling around to find the subjects of their conversation standing no more then thirty feet behind them.

Orochimaru smirked. "So you finally know how we really are"

"The centuries help to develop one's patience" Voldemort added. "If you be to hasty, you might loose"

The pair turned to each other and glowered.

"So aniki - are you ready to finish this?"

"Exceedingly. I'll relish the knowledge that you will be in Hell for many, many years to come


	30. Chapter 30

Chapter Thirty - In Which the Villains Bare Their Fangs

Wave Country

May 20th, 1967

It was a miserable day. One week ago, a fierce tsunami had tore through the Elemental Country of Water and left it shattered and scattered like the pieces of a child's jigsaw puzzle. Hundreds had died, shinobi and civilian alike. It had taken a week for any rescue parties to pick their way through the devastation caused by the storm and then there was the task of cleaning up the damage. It was thanks to the help of a few neighboring countries and the Hidden Village of the Mist that the Wave got the help they needed for the survivors and support in which to gather those pieces.

This was the kind of day that Orochimaru liked.

The ghastly pale snake-like man of the Legendary Three was currently wearing a secret smile, appreciating the ferocity of nature and its power to create such a catastrophe. The only force that even came close to matching nature was the feared nine Bijuu that still roamed the lands.

'Such a shame…' the young man thought to himself as he surveyed the veritable destruction. 'If only we had the power to harness such potential. I wonder… could I create a kikkai genkai like this?'

"Hey hebi-teme! Stop gapping out and help us here! You do have most of the supplies you know"

Orochimaru sighed and rolled his eyes. What in the world was Sarutobi-sensei thinking when he had assigned him to accompany his idiotic teammate Jiraiya and the baka's team of annoying little genin?

Deciding not to delay the enviable, he summoned one of his snakes and sent it to deliver his portion of the supplies to the stupid white haired pervert. He smirk openly this time when a scream echoed from the camp, and he pleased to see that Jiraiya's little female clone was busy freaking out like a chicken with its head cut off at the sight of his snake.

Coming over, Jiraiya frowned. "Did you have to do that?" he asked. "She's so much easier to handle when she isn't acting like that…"

"Having pedophilic thought ne?"

His teammate retaliated by aiming a punch at his head, which of course missed.

"You sick bastard!" the young Toad Sannin hissed. "I may be a pervert, but I wouldn't think anything like towards someone so young, especially one of my students!"

Orochimaru just laughed darkly at him.

"What you say Jiraiya. You and your genin take care of the village - I'm going to scout the area"

That thankfully made the white haired braggart happy, as he turned his back on him and stopped off in the direction of students muttering things about 'snake faced bastards'.

He left, melting into the ground and vanishing from the village. He reappeared a mile or so away near a small lake, fisting his knuckles as he vented his rage. Jiraiya always seemed to know the best way of getting on his nerves and it was simply a matter of time before he could finally get rid of the pest once and for all. After he was done with these idiots, he would be free to fully pursue his dream…

He was, after all, Dokuno Nyoko, the reincarnated destined ruler of this world.

His last life had been a failure, but this one would not. As the student of the Sandaime Hokage of Konohagakure no Sato, he was a shoe in for the title of Yondaime when the old man retired in ten years or so. With that power behind him, he would be able to work towards the goal he had been denied in his past life. He just had to make sure that Brom didn't get in the way this time.

Orochimaru grimaced.

Brom…

Oh, he remembered Brom all right. The other man was the only real enemy he had in this world - the twin half of his soul. Whomever his elder twin had been reborn as, he was older by at a little more then a decade and had the head start at re-accumulate his power (but he was the elder twin of course).

And although their blood had been diluted by many generations since their deaths and rebirths as their own descendants, Orochimaru could still sense the presence of his other half.

As a matter of fact, he was standing right behind him.

"So you've come," he said straightforwardly, not even bother to turn around.

"Thinking about me were you?" the other smirked, his accent leaving nothing to be desired.

"And you haven't? I find that highly unlikely" he replied, finally meet the other.

Orochimaru gave him a once over, his lip curling up into a mocking sneer.

"My, my, aren't you looking dreadful"

Brom had changed considerably since their last life. At twenty-five, the decay hadn't yet begun to effect Orochimaru, but it seemed to have done a number on the man before him. It appeared that the rate of decay on his reborn twin had caused the Dokuno features in their blood to become dominate - as Brom was now sported the ghastly pale skin, crimson snake eyes… and more of all he had no nose save for two small slits.

It was rare when the last bit occurred in the Dokuno clan, but it did happen.

"I see death hasn't done anything about your sense of humor Nyoko"

And he sneered as well, which he had to admit was remarkably snake-like.

"Its Daishikon Orochimaru now. You'd be wise to call me that Brom"

"Likewise," the other nodded. "Mine is Thomas Morvolo Riddle, but I prefer to be called Voldemort"

"'I am Lord Voldemort'? You always were far too overdramatic"

"So you guessed then acronym, have you?"

"I'm not a genius for nothing, you know. So what are you here for? I might be younger then you now, but that doesn't mean I'm not as powerful"

Voldemort smirked. "I didn't say that you were. You are, after all, one of the only people in the world capable of matching my power. Now what am I here for? I might be surprised, but I'm not here to fight?"

Orochimaru snorted. "Really now?"

"Exceedingly. Are you familiar with the talents of the Seers?"

"Yes"

"Then I'll have you know I have in my possession a prediction. I my travels I met one of few remaining descendants of Cassandra. Would you like to know what she foretold?"

"You're going to tell me anyway, so get on with it"

"Very well…"

Voldemort withdrew his wand and pointed it at his right temple. A silver mist was drawn out of his head - out of his mind - and clung to the tip of the wand like a shivering thread. Orochimaru frowned. There were so many things he could with magic that he couldn't with chakra once he finally killed his other half.

The older man then proceeded to bow forward towards the water and let the silver mist drift away from the wand and into the water. The water shimmered and glowed for a second before an image of an elderly woman appeared on the surface, a crystal ball before her.

She looked up a moment later and it was revealed that she was blind.

"I foresee a great convergence coming in twenty-six years time" the memory woman began."When the planets have aligned, they will bring upon the world a change so fierce that the men will be able to determine their fate own. If you are one that seeks supremacy, be wary of your equal. Together you will wage war in the form of the grandest of game ever fought. There will be pawns to control, rooks to conquer, bishop, knights to battle, bishops to supersede… and at the end, if you have won this game of games, you will earn the title of both the King and his Queen"

She closed her eyes and placed her hands together.

"But I must warn you know, there shall be an even greater obstacle that you must overcome if you hope to win. Both you and your equal shall be deterred in you're path by a pair of holy trios. These six will do everything in their power to stop you, even at the cost of their lives. Beware of the power of the human heart - for if it is pure, its might will overcome even you…"

The memory ended there, leaving the dark waters once again untouched.

Orochimaru raised an eyebrow. "So, you want to make this game do you?"

Voldemort smirked back. "Yes. The last time we fought, we killed each other because neither of us was powerful enough nor knowledgeable enough. Simply put, we were too inexperienced. But if we take our time and gather what not even the gods possess, then perhaps the outcome will be different this time. The old hag said the moment of victory would come twenty-six years from now. If we tried to kill each other now, old mistakes might repeat themselves"

"You make your point" the younger man nodded. "Besides, she said there would be pawns"

"Planning already?"

"I've been planning for much longer then this"

"Very well" Voldemort nodded, turning with a swirl of his robe. "I'll see you again in twenty-six. Don't disappoint me"

"Likewise"

And the older man vanished with a loud pop, leaving as suddenly as he had come. Orochimaru remained were he was he, continuing to stare to over the water. After a moment, a slow sly smile that promised pain began creep upon his face.

"I guess we are more alike then we thought. You'd better be careful… cousin… for you underestimate me for too easily"

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

May 20th, 1993

26 Years Later

At the sight of their two enemies, the three boys began to back away. There was so much to loose right now. Ginny was still unconscious and they had not yet freed the Basilisk, meaning that their new ally was actually still a potential enemy.

There was nowhere to turn now. All they could was fight and hope to win.

Voldemort smirked. "Eat them!" he commanded before he and Orochimaru faded back into the shadows, their laughter echoing throughout the chamber.

The Basilisk reared back then, its head whipping towards them, its fangs bared as it mindless obeyed its master's command.

"Shit!" Harry yelled, leaping as fast as he could out the reach of the mighty snake's fangs. "Scatter!"

"Aye, aye sir!" the blonde shouted half seriously, half mockingly in reply as he took to the walls and engaged the beast in a game of catch-me-if-you-can with a mass of shadow clones.

Leaping off the wall, Harry dropped down next to slightly panicking Sasuke, who was panicking only because he currently had his arms full of a certain red-haired girl that was keeping him from fighting back as well.

"Lets get out of here!"

The dark haired boy grit his teeth angrily, but complied otherwise and together they bolted towards the closest tunnel.

The sound of laughter followed them as the ran down the tunnel, looking for somewhere to hide Ginny so that they wouldn't have to worry about her when it came to fighting back. This was one fight that they weren't going to be able to run away from - it was fight or die trying.

They ducked into the nearest alcove, the Basilisk's massive form slithering past as they pinned themselves against the wall.

"Shit, what do we do? We're going to be snake bait soon!" Harry hissed quietly.

"Like I should know!" Sasuke hissed back irritably, laying the still unconscious Ginny down on a stone ledge next to the grate. "The last time I went up against Orochimaru, I got royal trounced and ended up with this damned curse seal," he snapped, jutting a thumb back at the mark on his shoulder. "I suppose this time is different though - instead of trying to kill us, they're playing a damned game!"

While the two argued in the tunnel, Naruto was forced to keep dodging the snake. It only took one full force hit with the Basilisk's tail to make the blonde decide to pull out the big guns and change into his horse-sized fox from.

"Cannonball! We're going to have snake tonight!"

Naruto growled inwardly. 'Shut up will ya! You're screwing my concentration!'

He channeled chakra into his feet and once again took the chamber walls, silently cursing both Harry and Sasuke who were still too busy arguing to bother helping him out. Kyuubi snorted with sarcastic laughter.

"You concentrate? Give me a break gaki!"

'JUST SHUT UP!'

Sprinting down the wall as fast as his legs could carry him, Naruto launched himself off in the direction of the tunnel Harry and Sasuke continued to debate. Decreasing his size to that of a medium sized bear, he charged in. In passing, he snared the sleeve of Sasuke's robes and began dragging him, Harry following close behind.

"What are you doing dobe?" he snapped, furiously trying to get his sleeve out of fox's fangs.

Naruto tossed him a withering look that said 'we're kind of facing a life or death situation because of pair of madmen and you're asking me why?' As soon as his 'victim' came to his senses, Sasuke threw a leg over Naruto's back.

"Well you'd better have a good idea!"

'Oh I do teme, I do' he thought and burst out the other end of the tunnel.

Seeing what Naruto had planned, Sasuke ejected himself of the fox's back the second he launched himself into the air, snarling as his nine golden tails wrapped themselves around the Basilisk's neck and clawed at its scaly body.

"Come on Harry! He's giving you the chance to look into its eyes!"

The two boys stood back as the snake bucked, trying to shake their furry friend off as Naruto rode it like bull rider. The dance lasted a few minutes before the larger of the pair won by sheer and threw him off, dashing him against the wall, leaving him stunned as he slowly regressed back to human form.

The Basilisk paused; whipping around finds its newest target when Harry preformed a chakra enhanced leap to land directly on the big snake's snout.

"Its time to end this once and for all!" he hissed in the snake language and then gazed into the large fathomless golden eyes that had never before look into another's without killing.

The Basilisk froze, mesmerized by Harry's own green eyes.

The moment seemed to last forever. While the pair remained in ocular contact, Sasuke went to Naruto's side and helped the blonde idiot to his feet. They approached cautiously as the Basilisk's head slowly began to lower itself towards the ground. As soon as its chin was touching the ground, Harry tottered backwards and fell flat on his back.

"Whoa… what a trip…"

"Thank you"

All three of them looked at the snake now and were pleased that its eyes could do them no harm.

"You're free now" Sasuke nodded. "What are you going to do with your freedom now that you have it?"

The big snake cocked its head to the side and looked at him. "You have signed the Snake Contract"

It was a statement rather then a question.

"Yes"

"Then will you forsake my father and take me in his place?"

Sasuke gapped, glancing at Naruto and Harry who gave him the thumbs up.

"I will"

"Very well" the snake smiled a fanged grin. "And I thank you again"

"Well that isn't very nice" an unamused voice side from behind them.

Voldemort and Orochimaru were back now, stepping from the shadows as the former glared at his once obedient pet. The Basilisk glared back.

"Such a shame. I guess I'll have to eat you now… although it would give me indigestion"

"Looks like I'm winning aniki" the latter smirked. "I have far more chips on my side of the playing field"

"Well you won't for long!" Voldemort turned back to the Basilisk. "You may have escaped the Slytherin contract, but you didn't take into account that would have a few tricks up my sleeve"

Not waiting to see what he had in store, the Basilisk launched forward to attack.

The snakelike man chuckled evilly and then began to chant. The chanting in Parseltongue caused Harry shudder violently. He clamped his hand over his ears, trying to block out was becoming a haunting music. Although it was spoken in snake language, the words made no sense at all. Soon enough though, the air started to shift as if it was dancing around him in waves.

It wasn't long either before the Basilisk too was stiffing, its attack coming to an abrupt halt. Stumbling away from the mighty snake, the green eyed boy realized in horror what exactly Voldemort was doing.

He was snake charming!

Harry groaned, desperately trying to block out the sound as the chanting was beginning to make him feel light headed.

"Harry? Daijobu?"

He looked at Sasuke and pointed towards were Ginny remained sleeping. "Go help your girlfriend"

And then he swayed lethargically for a moment, feeling like he wanted to hurl his guts outs before he toppled backward, barely being caught in time by Naruto.

"Harry? Harry, wakeup man!" Naruto snapped, shaking his raven-haired friend.

But the other boy could make no answer. He shivered, his green eyes going unfocused and before Naruto could try to ask him again, Harry was suddenly screaming and violently threw himself away from the blonde clutching at his forehead.

"Shit! Harry!"

But the young wizard still did not answer. From what Naruto could see, there was blood all over his friend's hands.

"Harry…"

He reached out, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Run…"

"Hunh?"

"RUN!"

Naruto stumbled backward as magical shockwave pulsed from Harry. After landing flat on his ass, the bewildered blonde looked up to stare in horror at his friend. The left side of Harry's face was covered in blood, which was pouring in a steady stream from his forehead, the curse scar split wide open. The bad thing though was his eyes were completely blank, devoid of emotion or even a flicker of a soul behind them…

Then another split the chamber.

He suddenly he had a very bad feeling about that when an explosion of vile chakra flared up behind him. Slowly turning, Naruto winced. Behind him he found himself staring at a Sasuke who's dark eyes were filled with madness, flame like tattoos covering his body, his curse seal broken.

He could feel the dread welling up in his stomach. They were his enemies now, nothing more then a pair of puppets dangling at the end of a pair of twisted puppeteer's strings.

Naruto shivered.

He had suddenly found himself in a very precarious situation. He was alone now, finding himself facing two of his best friends that no longer wield minds of their own. Harry gazed at with deadened eyes, Voldemort controlling him through the lightning bolt curse scar on his forehead. Sasuke stared at him with maddened eyes, Orochimaru controlling him through the tri-teardrop heaven curse seal on his shoulder.

He was totally fucked now.

The catacombs beneath the castle of Hogwarts were everything Minato expected them to be. They were dark, dank and smelly - a combination that the blonde man had never been found of, especially having spent all those years as a ghost watching over Naruto, how had been living in almost the exact same conditions. He hated it, more so since he had been lost down there for nearly an hour. Unfortunately for him, all he could do was wander aimlessly though the vast tunnels since he could no longer sense the boy's charka.

The task of finding them had just gotten harder.

Then his sense began to tingle and call it parental instinct if you like, but he suddenly had the horrible feeling that Naruto was in trouble. Following that gut instinct, he traversed the catacombs (escaping the circle he had been walking in for the last thirty minutes) and proceeded to seek out his son.

And it wasn't long before Minato finally found part of the object of his search. A massive iron door adorned with a pair of perfectly carved snakes. He shuddered. Snake… his least favorite creature. Walking up to the door, he looked around, but there appeared to be no way of opening it. Placing a hand on the cold iron, he frowned as he felt the pulse of magic within it. As he had no power of magic, it made him feel rather queasy.

Placing an ear to the door, he could hear the faint echo of battle beyond.

Minato stared at the door before him and growled. His son was in terrible danger - that he knew without a doubt - and he'd be damned if he didn't do anything to help. Gritting his teeth, the blonde man raised a hand and began to channel his chakra into it. Surely enough moments later, a swirling blue ball of brilliant chakra began to form.

Smiling grimly, he slammed the Rasengan into the door, slowly but surely, drilling a hole through the magic enforced iron door.


	31. Chapter 31

Chapter Thirty One – Desperation

- The Chamber of Secrets -

Naruto knew right away that he had gone from the frying pan into the fire. As he stood there staring at his two possessed friends, only one coherent thought seemed to be processing through his mind.

'Oh shit, oh no, oh shit, oh no…'

Oh shit, oh no indeed.

"Kit, calm yourself" the little voice at the back of his mind said, and it was his inner cricket talking. You're only making this worse by panicking"

'CALM MYSELF? WHAT DO YOU MEAN 'CALM MYSELF'?'

Kyuubi winced as the sheer force of Naruto's mental screech.

"Okay, now you're starting to overrate…"

"I am not overrating!' Naruto screamed again, slowly backing from his two possessed best friends. 'If you can't see that Harry and Sasuke are no longer on our side, then you're crazy!"

"Oh its not that bad"

The blonde froze for a moment, totally not expecting the fox to say something like that. But it was bad - as in an I-am-so-going-to-die kind of bad. He knew he wasn't near as smart as Ron or Shikamaru when it came to understanding the situation, but he was smart enough to know that he was completely outclassed.

On one side there was Harry. The raven-haired wizard possessed greater magical talents then he did seeing as he was born with his magic and he also possessed the bloodline limit of the Raidono. But he was Voldemort's puppet now and there was no telling what the creep snake-wizard would make him do.

One the other side, there was Sasuke. As a scion of the Uchiha clan, the onyx eyed shinobi possessed (and this was the first time Naruto would truthfully admit it) greater chakra talents since he had been raised to be the best, not to mention that his Sharingan was just as formidable. But now that Orochimaru had reawakened the once dormant curse seal, his power-hungry alter ego had been unlocked.

Not motioned that Voldemort and Orochimaru could level the playing field with a simple gesture if the wished.

As harsh as it was, Naruto knew he couldn't win. He may have the Sharikugan and he may share the Kyuubi's powers, but there was no way he could take one his two best friends at once and survive. Little choice he had in the matter though. He was currently locked in a cold dark chamber with a couple of freaky tyrants out to kill each other so that one could ultimately rule the world.

"So Naruto… are you afraid?"

Naruto snapped back into reality, shuddering slightly at the sound of Sasuke's new creepy maniacal voice. He stared at the pale boy, unable to reply.

"What? Cat got you're tongue?"

He bristled. "S-shut up"

The curse seal possessed Sasuke smirked and it was a dark looked, the Sharingan bleeding into his eyes to give the Uchiha a sinister appearance.

Taking the chance, Naruto looked over Harry and shuddered again. The bespectacled boy had his head cocked to one side, looking at him as if he wasn't even seeing him at all. Then there was a faint hum in the air, one that caused the hair on the back of his neck to rise.

And suddenly Harry was glowing.

"Quite… nice" he said, his own voice a dead monotone as he flexed his fingers.

"Umm kit?"

Naruto groaned inwardly, not needing Kyuubi's commentary at the moment.

'Yes?'

"You are soo screwed"

He mentally sweatdropped. 'I thought we already covered that fact?'

But the fox didn't reply this time. Filled with terrified indecision, he did the first thing that came to mind and turned to run. After all, it would be better to plot his next course of action first…

"What are you? A coward?"

Naruto froze.

Coward? If there was one thing he hated, that was being called a coward. Never once in his life had he ever really been cowardly. Hell, he was the Jinchuuriki no Kyuubi no Kitsune! His life had been filled with pains of all kind and while he had run from it, it had noting to do with cowardice.

After having taken only a few steps, he turned back to Sasuke and bared his fangs.

He wasn't going to give up. This was just another fight another stupid fight between rivals, but he would make sure he trounced his dark friend good for the record. With a feral smirk, he activated his Sharikugan. Ignoring the stifled gasp from Orochimaru as the creepy sennin caught sight of them, he dropped into a stance and held out a hand to show that he was ready.

"Lets go wild!"

- Professor Dumbledore's Office -

The day of reckoning had finally come.

The gods and demons had long known, having read of its for coming in the stars. A great foreboding seemed to seep from the Earth, as if the Great Mother was crying, her children fighting once again. And with the foreboding came the power. It was like a beckon, a signal shinning brighter then a star.

The reckoning had come.

And from his meditation, he was awakened. He had long felt the stirring in the fundamental energies that circled around Hogwarts, and as they began to grow in intensity. A pair of unnatural eyes opened, gazing around the dimly lit room in which had been slumbering. Nothing had changed whist he slept, but as he stretched out his exceptional senses, he sensed the unease and the burgeoning of disaster below the foundations of the home he had chosen to protect for the last five hundred years.

It was something climatic.

It would bring an end to a bygone era no matter who triumphed in the outcome. In all the years he had waited, the final confrontation in one of the darkest chapters in the history of the Wizarding World was about to come to an end.

Right now he had do his part in the coming battle. Once his mission was completed, he would be able to return to his rightful home and rest, free of the confines of the human for at least another thousand years.

Ruffling his brilliant crimson and gold feathers, a wise and ancient phoenix that had come to be known as Fawkes took flight.

Retirement was over.

- The Hospital Wing -

In the Hospital Wing, a pair of identical sleeping boys slept, their life-force draining away. It would have remained as such if it were not for a faint crimson glow that surrounded them. The glow became brighter still as it became like flames, burning away the sinister spells that been placed upon them.

As soon as the spells where broken, the light burst like a soap bubble and the vast energy was drawn forcibly back into the two inert bodies, revitalizing them.

Fred Weasley awoke with a gasp. His head felt heavy as if someone had injected a gallon of lead into it.

"What the bloody hell was that?"

He managed to turn to his head, looking over at his twin on the adjacent bed.

"I feel like I'm going to barf…" George groaned, leaning over the edge of the bed like he was seasick.

Sitting up groggily, Fred turned to his twin and winced slightly, holding his aching head.

"Are you alright? Do you remember what happened?"

George frowned.

"Not really. I remember Snape and Lockhart doing a dance on the staff table dressed in god-awful green spandex and then stumbling towards the Hospital Wing with a spitting headache"

"I guess we made it…"

- Back in the Chamber of Secrets -

Voldemort bit back a gasp, wincing in pain as he felt the spell he had cast upon one of the twin Weasley brats be broken. The fact that it had been broken left him puzzled. The curse he had used had no counter-curse - that he should know since he was the one that created it back when he was still Brom Slytherin.

He sensed that the same had happened to Orochimaru as well; whose siphon seal had been broken as well. The fact pleased him, knowing that his 'brother' wouldn't have an advantage over him - they were still on equal ground and there was still the chance that he would win.

Focusing on the flight again, he watched with a smirk as his puppet continued to attack.

The Potter boy was unable to control himself. What he had done to the boy had been so much better then using Imperious Curse. The link that bonded them through the curse scar had been so easy to manipulate. All he had had to enter Potter's mind and to force his subconscious into hibernation. The boy would fight for him and follow his orders with a mere thought and think nothing of it. In away, the annoying little thorn in his side was already dead.

He smirked as Harry unleashed a volley of self-generated lightning bolts at the blonde brat.

The vessel of the Nine-tailed Fox was an interesting child. He fought even when it was clear that he was going to be killed. He fought even though the odds were stacked so high against him. It was an interesting fight to watch.

"Enjoying the show?" Orochimaru quipped.

"Are you?"

"Oh very much so. I have the change to tested Sasuke-kun's potential again and the fact Naruto-kun possess the legendary Sharikugan makes it so much sweeter. The Potter brat is also doing as well as I expected - had you decided to raise him as the perfect subordinate after you killed his parents rather then try to kill him, you have had a very powerful tool "

Voldemort rolled his eyes, ignoring the younger man.

"Why don't we bring it up a notch?"

"Hijutsu: Raikoken Rendan!"

Naruto hissed in pain as many of Harry's attacks hit home. The older boy's electrically charged fists were moving with lightning quick procession, passing his defenses where he was blocking others. Where he had hit, a sharp volt would rip through his body, weakening him. It didn't help that Sasuke was attacking at the same time.

The other boy was alternating from skill to skill, purposely trying to wear out his chakra. It was a pain, but he would have been out the game a long time ago if it wasn't for his Sharikugan and the Kyuubi's chakra. It was only thanks to that he managed to dodge both Harry and an oncoming Grand Fireball.

"Kuso…" he muttered, sticking himself to a nearby wall.

"Hey kit" Kyuubi suddenly interrupted once again.

'What?'

"I have a jutsu for you which just might even the playing field more"

'What is it?'

"Wait a sec and I'll send it to you"

Naruto did just that; though leaping off the wall his was on to avoid Sasuke. While he did so, a pattern of seals began to flash through his mind, as well as brief explanation of its usage. His smirked. This would work great!

His hands flashing through the newly learned seals as he known the sequence for years, Naruto took a deep breath and let out all the oxygen in his lungs.

"Maton: Tubikomi no Ankoku no Jutsu!"

The demonic jutsu burned his throat as the pure darkness billowed out in clouds, consuming the whole chamber in its clutches. The only light in this overwhelming world of night was the electrical shimmer of Harry's glowing form. So while he and everyone in the chamber could see him, neither he nor they could see anyone else.

But Naruto had the advantage now. With his heightened senses of smell and sound, he would smell exactly where his opponents stood as well as hear their breathing and their heartbeats. As soon as the darkness had fallen over them, the once emotionally dead Harry's heartbeat had quickened. It wasn't a secret that the green-eyed wizard was afraid of dark places after having been tormented by his relatives during the darker years of his childhood.

And he attacked.

Sasuke let out a cry of pain as he blindsided the Uchiha, the dark haired boy's pretty Sharingan eyes being of no use to him. He could hear Sasuke cursing as he went for Harry next, striking just before he saw the fist enter the area of his aura.

For as long it would last, Naruto was happy. He had two more minutes to exact equal damage upon his opponents before the lights went back on. And so he did. Unable to see and thus unable to fight back, Sasuke and Harry took their beatings, though not without trying to fight back of course. As soon as he began to feel the jutsu waning, the blonde put as much distance between himself and two friends as possible.

The dim lighting of the chamber returned, but from absolutely darkness, it was almost blinding.

Having sensitive eyes didn't help at all, especially when they're wide-open. Naruto cried out in pain this time, covering them with his hands. Sasuke was the quickest to recover.

"Katon: Karyuu Endan!"

"Kisama!" Naruto yelped. Having to use instinct to fend off the massive fire dragon attack while still half blinded.

"Can't take the heat dobe?" Sasuke mocked.

Naruto blinked.

Can't take the heat…

Laughing inwardly, the blonde remembered that line fondly. Sasuke had said it during the recent Chuunin Exams. It had been when they were creating and practicing their magical jutsus. The young Uchiha had decided he try and prove Naruto the eternal deadlast, friend or not, and had unleashed his personal Kijutsu Katon on him.

Can't take the heat dobe?'

'I think that ego of your has overheated that inflated head of yours. How's about I help you cool down a bit?'

So Naruto had smirked back and used his own magical jutsu. It had been rather funny how it turned out in the end. To this day he still hadn't let the other boy live it down.

In reality, the present day Naruto chuckled.

"I think that ego of your has overheated that inflated head of yours" he smirked. "How's about I help you cool down a bit?"

The blonde watched with grim satisfaction as Sasuke's eyes slowly began to widen in remembrance. So like his friends before him, Naruto began to channel his chakra and magic and began to mesh them into one.

"Kijutsu Suiton: Ookawa no Matsudai!"

And a river burst out of the ground.

It rained down upon the Uchiha, knocking him back and taking Harry along with it. The latter had experiment on it with Raiton jutsus, trying to shock him, but with magic infused to this jutsu, he was safe from the effects.

It then proceeded to slam the pair against the far wall, pinning them in place. Unable to move against the pressure, Sasuke and Harry were trapped. That when the laughter started. Naruto felt the hair on his neck rise as he slowly turned away from his success and towards the two creatures that stood not too far away.

"Petrificus Totalus!"

He froze; unable to react fast enough as the spell hit him head on.

"My, my, Naruto-kun - good job" Orochimaru laughed, clapping.

Naruto cursed silently, struggling with all of his and Kyuubi's strength to break the spell holding his frozen body in place.

Voldemort sneered at him. "That little trick you preformed was effective, but a waste of such power"

And living up to his reputation as a loudmouth, he managed to free his mouth from the Total Body Bind.

"You won't get away with this!"

"Oh, but we already have. This little game had been being played for twenty-six years now - over a thousand if you'd like to get technical"

Naruto growled, stepping forward. "I don't care! I will stop you, even if I have to die to do it!"

Orochimaru just laughed.

"Brave words little fox. But I have long since had my pieces in position - especially when it comes to you"

"What the hell do mean by that?"

Voldemort stepped aside as the younger man walked towards him.

"You know, it was very cunning on my part brat" Orochimaru smiled oily. "There was no better way to get revenge on the blonde baka that ruined my plans then to strike at the heart; somewhere it would hurt like hell. So I chose most painful thing I could think of - I revealed your soon-to-be existence to one Uzumaki Tatsumaki - your grandfather. It was easy to con that pathetic demi-god which possessed him into summoning the Kyuubi"

Naruto's blood began to go cold.

"I killed two birds with one stone that way. Within a few days the Uzumaki clan was eradicated save one, Konoha was in shambles and it's Yondaime dead. But better yet was that his son was now a Jinchuuriki for the world's most powerful demon and that his wife, the oh so talented medic progeny of the Kyuubi's summoner, was unable to stop one of my spies from making sure that she bleed to death shortly after giving birth to you"

And suddenly the world around him shattered.

"BASTARD!"


	32. Chapter 32

Chapter Thirty Two - Releasing the Beast from Within

"BASTARD!"

It happened so fast. As ever fiber of his being was burning with rage - a fire so absolute it threatened to consume him, Naruto practically ceased to be. Within him, Kyuubi didn't even have a chance to fight back against the forceful withdrawal of his powers, not that he minded giving that his own rage just added to the fire. Together, boy and demon merged further then before, the latter electing to pass on its power and title as a demon lord to the former.

As the blonde became the Kyuubi, a pure explosive pulse of demonic energy rocked the chamber. Everyone inside was jarred of their feet and thrown back ten feet. In the case of Harry and Sasuke, the two boys were released from their captor's influence thanks to the flood of volatile chakra. Together they watched in horror, as their friend became a beast -a demon - before their very eyes. To say they were terrified would have been an understatement.

For Orochimaru and Voldemort, they were witness to one of the greatest powers on earth. It didn't even cross the mind of the shinobi of the pair that he just might have bitten off more then he could chew. For the wizard of the pair, he was in awe, having truly, for the first time, been privy to the extent of a demon's powers.

This was the power they had always dreamed of.

For Naruto, the world around him had been a haze of red rage. From within the mighty shield of chakra, he could feel himself changing. The cute foxy ears that had once adorned the top of his head vanished, while his normal ears returned, albeit pointed elfishly. And then his eyes, the gray/white of the Byakugan aspect and the black ring with rotating tamoe of the Sharingan aspect merging, becoming the mysterious black and white broken dartboard of the Boenkyou Sharikugan, the demonic slit pupil changing to nightmarish shade of a red that spoke of the fox demon's added power.

But when his ultimate power couldn't shield him from the pain his heart was currently enduring.

Holding out hands, he bared his fangs and formed a trio of seals. "Koukyuu Seishin Bunshin!"

Another shockwave of chakra followed, this one focused into a condensed form. It grew and took shape, becoming that horse-sized red fox, its crimson eyes harsh with fury and its own glistening white fangs bared.

And together they pair leapt at they're pray.

Meanwhile, on the other side of door leading into the Chamber of Secrets, one Namikaze Minato was sure he was going to have a heart attack. Before him was another demon, this one far greater in power then the last one he had faced. When he had first seen the bird, he would never have guessed it to be the greatest demon lords to ever exist. He knew it had helped his son and his friends many times over, especially in the case of the young former Iwa-nin Kinomi. What baffled him the most though was that if this was a demon, then why was it so 'friendly' with humans?

None of it made any sense…

In reality, he stuttered. "Y-you're the Juubi no Fushicho?"

"Yes"

"Well umm… aren't you a little small? I thought you be bigger"

The phoenix cast him that could instantly wither flowers. "Very funny human. I can change my size at will. Now I know you must be wonder why I, a demon, would have anything to do with humans. Call it karmic debt or just plan boredom if you wish. If find you humans amusing, particularly the wizards - they think they're so infallible"

Minato was about to make a retort when the words froze on his tongue, a massive amount of undiluted killing intent searing through the rock walls and washing over him. He shivered, feeling the Kyuubi's demonic chakra mixed with it.

"My, my… I never thought Kyouran would give up his power to a human"

"Who?"

Tensai turned to blonde man and gave him a beaky smile. "Kyouran, my second in charge - the Kyuubi no Kitsune. Apparently something significant has just taken place and he has chosen your son, his jinchuuriki, a worthy successor of his powers and title of as the Nine-tailed Fox"

The former Hokage practically choked.

"What? You mean my musuko has become a demon?"

His question was met with a soft coo of laughter, the phoenix soaring off its perch to land gracefully on his shoulder.

"No, no," Tensai replied. "He has merely become my dear kitsune's human heir, just as the boy Akumu become Nigai's heir and, although by default, the boy Gaara became Shukaku's"

"Hunh?"

"For a human that defeated the greatest of my soldiers, you really are dense. Here, I will show you - but you must not interfere, this is not your fight"

The phoenix drew in a deep breath and suddenly fire streamed out from its beak. Minato flinched from the heat, his sunshine hair singeing slightly and then lightly curling from the intense flames. But more importantly, the bane of his existence was melting into a molten pool before his eyes. As soon as the iron door was gone, he could see into the Chamber of Secrets and was awash once more in the Kyuubi's chakra.

Moving into the chamber, the sight that met his cerulean eyes shocked him.

The attack had only began a minute and a half ago, but for the first time since his life, this one or last, Orochimaru was really regretting the fact that he had opened his mouth. It hadn't bothered him when the boy began to explode with a veritably vast amount of chakra, it was when he had created the clone in the shape of a fox for the soul of the Kyuubi to inhabit and then the pair had attacked.

It was strange really. Never in this life he had ever felt true fear, not since he overcame such trivial nuisances during the last. It had been his mother Aiyoku whom had taught him to be fearless. He was a snake by blood and by nature and this was his Eden.

He could even remember his mother's words now…

'Remember my little hebiko, while the world may be a treacherous place, you have power of the gods in your hands - and when you have that, you have no reason to fear but to be feared instead'

The first person to rebuke his power and his fearless with his own had been his mirror image. Brom… Voldemort…his wizard half… the only person capable of being a true rival for ultimate power. Now before him was what he had been waiting many, many years for.

Namikaze Minato's little blonde gaki held a power he had only ever been able to dream of. It had been in his best intentions to use the young jinchuuriki as a pawn on his illusionary chessboard and so he had. Voldemort had failed to take the bait when he had told the older man the boy would make a perfect vessel - the demon within the boy only made such a accusation rather laughable, but the trap hadn't worked, like none before had worked.

But a pawn the boy was nonetheless. He had summoned the demon, he had been rid of the mother and the father had only fallowed along with the plan that lead to his death. Maybe it hadn't been such a good idea to provoke the boy with the knowledge of his hand behind the deaths of his entire family… but so, it had felt so good to see the look on the boy's face when had said it.

And yet another of his mother's words came to mind.

'But keep in mind that you are not infallible. There will be others that seek such aims as you - so take that to heart. Don't be the wise fool for surely you will fail to reap the spoils at the end…'

Snapping out of the two-second reverie, the golden-eyed man turned to the boy as launched himself into the air and creating five shadow clones in mid jump while the Kyuubi attacked Voldemort. But at the same time Orochimaru smirked and raised both arms.

"Sen'eijashuu!"

Four snakes burst from the sleeves of his robe and hurdled themselves at the blondes with deadly precession. Two clones were taken out in a burst of smoke, the other four managing to dodge, or at least that was how it appeared. A pain hiss caught the pale man's attention and he sneered. The reaming two snakes had caught the main target, their fangs imbedded deeply within both forearms.

"I will kill you!" the blonde hissed dangerously, crossing his arms and wrenching the two snakes out of his arms. "Maton: Ketsueki Ame no Toukai no Jutsu!"

"Fumetsu Amefuri no Jutsu!"

The two jutsus clashed. If it weren't for Naruto's attack being demonically based, it would have had no effects upon Orochimaru's. But it was. A dark crimson could hang over the Snake Sennin, bloody red raindrops searing through the opaque white bowl-shapped shield like sulfuric acid. The moment they struck tangible surfaces, it sizzled, eating away at whatever it touched.

Noticing this, Orochimaru focused his chakra into flinging his jutsu and what amount of the red rain as he could towards the closet wall, which ate through it almost instantly.

"Damn gaki…" he hissed, taking only a moment to tear a piece of cloth from his robe and wipe at the spattering of drops that had touched him - though he hadn't gotten away without at least a few large, nasty, oozy, acid burned wounds.

The blonde gave him a fanged smirk. "Oooh that musta hurt!"

Seconds later, he was gone.

As much as he wanted to kill the boy and be done with it, a yell of fury distracted him from the task at hand. He turned and found that Voldemort, for all his power (hell, as much as he hated him, he had to hand it to the man. It was no small deal when you had nearly an entire race too afraid to even speak your own name),wasn't faring to well against a demon in corporeal form. His soul's twin, no matter how skilled in destructive magic, was covered in bloody slashes, firing curse after curse at the demon to little effect.

He found himself highly amused.

"Ameratsu!"

Unfortunately, it didn't last long.

Getting his frayed senses back in order, Naruto left unspoken his wish from to Kyuubi to keep distracting the two snake bastards while he went to newly freed Harry and Sasuke's side. When he found the two other boys, he noticed the pure shock etched on their faces, even the Uchiha, who by nature, never liked to reveal much.

"Are you guys okay?" he gasped. "I didn't mean to over do it"

Harry nodded mutely.

"I guess this is the final call huh?" Sasuke smirked, getting to his feet.

The blonde nodded.

"Yes. Those two have cause too much shit. Its Orochimaru's fault that the Kyuubi attacked Konoha and that okaa-san died after giving birth to me, but I'll need your help to take them out. Harry has to take Voldemort out anyway if wants to have a normal life anyway. What do you say?"

"Of course dobe!"

"Hell yeah!" Harry growled jumping to his feet.

"Maybe I can help you with that"

The three boys squeaked in shock, whirling around to see who had spoke. Perched on a nearby statue was…

Harry blinked. "Fawkes?"

"You can talk?" Naruto gapped incredulously. "Why didn't you ever talk to us before?"

"Great… a talking bird" Sasuke muttered, crossing his arms.

The phoenix shot a miffed glare at the last boy.

"I'd choose your words carefully Uchiha. It doesn't do to anger a demon"

The green-eyed wizard yipped in surprise.

"You're a demon?"

"Must I repeat myself? Yes, I am a demon - a holy demon to be exact"

"Holy shit! You're the Juubi no Fushicho - the Ten-tailed Phoenix!" Naruto gasped, pointing wildly. "But Kyuubi told me you went back to the demonic realm! If that was so, then why are you here and most of all, why were acting the part of a human's pet?"

"No time for questions boys. I have a karmic debut to replay and by helping you, I'll be free to go about my business in peace"

The three boys looked at each other, then back the bird.

"And what's that?"

"Probably the only way to defeat those two. Come closer and I will share that knowledge with you…"

"Bloody hell!"

Voldemort was not happy at.

Actually, that was a rather harsh understatement - he was pissed. And what evil Dark Lord wouldn't be when an overgrown fox was using you as a chew toy. None of the Unforgivable Curses worked against the ninetailed demon, even the dreaded Killing Curse. The only satisfaction he got out of this whole debacle was that Orochimaru wasn't faring well himself.

Throwing a stabbing curse at the fox, he dodged another attack, which led him to be standing next to his ooh so hated soul brother.

"Smooth move, you imbecile. You had to anger the demon-possessed blonde brat didn't you?"

Orochimaru sneered, clutching at his left side. Looking closer, the other man noticed with satisfaction that it was completely crisp, his left arm and shoulder having been incinerated and the wound cauterized to flame broiled perfection no more then minute ago. "Don't go blaming me for this - you arranged this game in the first place"

"Well it's not my fault either?"

"Then who's is it? Okaa-sama and otou-sama for conceiving us?"

"Damn you to hell Nyoko!"

"You first Brom!"

"Geeze… you're bothers? Ewe!" a voice from nearby whined, making the two older man stop dead in their bickering, the younger freezing for a whole different reason. "Its official - that had to be by far has to be the most fucked up sibling spat I have ever been witness too, dead or alive…"

Clenching his teeth, Orochimaru turned ever so slow. Standing at the entrance to the chamber was none other Namikaze Minato, the man whom he had arranged to die and had died thirteen years ago. But he was alive and with was bird on his shoulder as well…

"Namikaze!"

Orochimaru took a step forward.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you"

Voldemort, who had been about to follow the other man, stopped as well. The one who had spoken that time had been Dumbledore's pet phoenix, and he glared back at the bird. But doing so caused the hair on the back of his pale neck prickle and he knew then that what he had been planning for the last twenty-six years was really not going as planned.

While they had been distracted, it had given their enemies time to surround them. In three consecutive places, the trio they been toying with earlier now stood with their hands raised, each hand glowing a different color.

That couldn't be good at all.

Voldemort tightened his grip upon his wand. What he had learned about shinobi jutsus during his last life told him as much. From the looks of it, they were preparing to execute an extremely complex Fuuinjutsu.

If he didn't act now, neither he nor Orochimaru could hope to survive…

The three boys stood as one, surrounding they're prey.

Since they had returned to Hogwarts, they had been learning a fuuinjutsu from Minato, but what they had just learned from the Juubi went way and beyond all that.

Each of them had been in charge of an element - Harry's had been Lightning (because of his bloodline), Hermione's had Wind (because she liked wind best), Naruto's had been Water (because Hermione already had wind), Ron's had been Earth (because earth was, like him, a life giver), Sakura's had been Metal (because do you know how hard that girl can punch?) and lastly, Sasuke's had been Fire (because of ooh so fiery temper). It gave them all a sense of unity.

It would have been made much easier if they had had Hermione, Ron and Sakura, but they didn't, so the three boys would have to use a lot more chakra then when they had to if their three other friends with them. So as fate would have it, the three boys would have to take up the remaining elements and use them in their friend's stead.

Naruto got Water and Wind.

Harry got Lightning and Metal.

Sasuke got Fire and Earth.

And one by one, their hands began to light up - blue and white, yellow and gray, red and brown.

Naruto turned to his friends, receiving a nod from Harry and smirk from Sasuke. Turning the other way, he looked at the regal phoenix, which had returned to his father's side at the melted door - the demon lord nodding and the former Hokage proud smiling.

The blonde haired, blue-eyed boy took that as the go signal.

"Mizu no Fuuin!" he shouted, slamming him right palm against the ground.

As circle formed around Orochimaru and Voldemort, just as the older man chanced firing a curse at him. It bounced harmlessly off the now invisible force field that now surrounded them as the blue kanji for Water burning itself into the stones.

He smirked lightly at the sound of the enraged yelling on the other side and then he repeated his original movements with his left hand.

"Kaze no Fuuin!"

"This is for me, my okaa-san, my otou-san, and for the Uzumaki clan - no matter how corrupt them might have been - and for Konoha!"

As soon as the kanji for Wind burned into the stone floor, it was Harry's turn. The raven haired, green-eyed boy grit his teeth and followed the pattern.

"Rai no Fuuin!"

The kanji for Lightning burning into the stone floor.

"Kane no Fuuin!"

And a kanji for Metal followed.

"This is for me, my mother, my father, Sirius Black and not mention every single person in the Wizarding and Muggle Worlds that lost a loved one during the war!"

Finally, it was Sasuke's turn. The ebony haired, onyx eyed boy took a deep breath and joined the flow, his first hand falling.

"Hi no Fuuin!"

The kanji for Fire joined the ever-growing circle, soon to be followed by the kanji for Earth.

"Chi no Fuuin!"

"This is for me, Ginny, the Weasley twins and the whole the Shinobi World as one!"

And together they finished what had been long in coming.

"Rokugyo Fuuin: Doudou Goshou Chouin Kouseki!"

If it hadn't been for seer willpower, all occupants of the room would have looked away. The explosion of color that followed was like looking directly into a rainbow. The six elemental seals rose from the ground, revolving in a spinning helix around the two dark lords. Their screams could faintly be heard from within, but with the growing noise from the sounded like crashing waves, whirlwinds, clashing lighting, striking metal, crackling fire and a rumbling earthquake, no much less was noticeable - not even their own heartbeats!

Then in a final burst of light, the it vanished, leveling a iridescent dark green jewel with an undeniable evil aura surrounding it, hanging in the air. That jewel would be Orochimaru and Voldemort's final 'resting' place.

They would be unable to escape their fate…

Naruto let out a slurred giggle, obviously suffering from chakra exhaustion. "Well… we… did… it!" and with another small giggle, collapsed into an unceremonious heap on the ground, followed seconds later by Harry and then Sasuke.

Minato looked from the three boys unconscious upon the stone floor, to horse-sized mortal Kyuubi that was shaking his head with exasperation to the Juubi - Fawkes or Tensai, which ever he chose in a given mood - just smiled in his own beaky way

It was over…

…and they had won.


	33. Chapter 33

Chapter Thirty Three - Afterimage

Drip…

Drip…

Drip…

Drip…

"Gah… goddamn dripping…"

Ginny awoke with a small groan, her head throbbing painfully as though someone had driven a railroad spike through her temples. The annoying repetitive dripping sound was beginning to grate on her aching nerves while the sent of stagnate water and burnt flesh irrigated her nose enough to wake the comatose person from their deep slumber.

Light brown eyes opened groggily, and she blinked twice before gasping.

A snicker echoed back.

"Welcoming back to the world of the living Ginny-san! My back thanks you already 'cause it means won't have to carry another cumbersome body"

She sat up, rubbing her stinging eyes. Blonde hair, eye eyes, cheesy grin, older version of Naruto minus the whiskers - yep, it was the hyper boy's hyper father all right. Remembering everything about the Basilisk, the Chamber of Secrets and the dairy before she was knocked out, Ginny had opened her mouth to 'confess her sins' when another voice cut her off.

"Hey! You're not the one that's going to be packing most of this deadweight buster!" the voice sounded almost feline, and very pissed.

The blonde man wrinkled his nose before turning to look over his shoulder.

"Oh shut up overgrown furball. A little exercise should do you some good after twelve and a half years"

"And who's fault was that in the first place hunh?"

"Umm, I think that would have to be a pair of now crystallized creepy snake-like pedophiles"

The red haired girl was now beyond confused, even more so when the other person started to mutter a long series of death threats that sounded more like an animal growling. When the blonde noticed the curious look on her face, he laughed again.

"Oh don't worry about him, he's just a little bit anal right now"

"But who is he?" she asked.

"Oh nobody - just my musuko's new pet"

"Damn you to hell human! I am nobody's bloody pet!"

Ginny let out a squeak of fear when a gigantic red fox suddenly came into view. Hiding behind the man, who was now roaring with laughter so hard he was in tears, she peaked out at the beast to find that it was glaring at her.

"Oh come on human, grown a backbone. You faced a snake hundreds of times bigger then your puny little self alone, so what am I to you?" it snapped, sneering at her in own foxy way before turning its tail - tails - on her and stormed off.

"Its okay kid"

She looked up and felt a little bit more confidant thanks to the reassuring smile she received.

"W-where's… umm…" she began, looking around.

"Voldemort?"

The girl flinched at the name, but nodded.

"Gone. You don't need to worry about him hurting you anymore. Now then, can you offer some help?"

"Hunh?"

He gestured behind her, and when she turned, she couldn't help but gasp. "Sasuke! Harry! Naruto! What happened to them?" she cried as she rushed to sides of the three sleeping boys.

The blonde man looked very proud suddenly. "They exhasuted themselves after coming to rescue you - and they won. You should be proud of them. Very few people would risk there lives for someone, friend or not, the way they did for you"

"T-thank you… umm…"

"My name is Minato"

She smiled back. "Thank you Minato"

"No problem. Now lets deal with these deadweights"

Together the pair worked in rounding up three unconscious boys, resting Harry and Sasuke on the fox's back, the phoenix sitting on top of them to keep them from falling off, while Minato carried Naruto. As soon as they were ready, the small group left the Chamber of Secrets and traversed the catacombs in silence.

With enough distance between him and the two annoying (awake) humans, Kyuubi couldn't help but looked back at battle that had not long ago taken place. He was proud of his kit, which was snoring loudly upon his father's shoulder. That boy - that extremely annoying boy - had done something few could ever boast at doing.

Even he (while in a mortal form now),a mighty demon, couldn't help but smile inwardly.

Naruto had fought a good battle - one worthy of recognition from the nine-tailed demon lord. That human boy was a wonder and it was almost beyond what he could comprehend. In order to defeat the madman that had screwed with their lives, he had allowed the blonde to succeed him as the second greatest of all Bijuu and in exchange, he had been given a corporeal body, although mortal and the mass of his powers diminished.

But he was content… for them moment.

Shifting the weight of his two unconscious passengers, Kyuubi turned his attention to his high lord that was currently seat directly behind his head, and giving the ten-tailed demon a vulpine grin.

"I always knew you would come back Nenriki-sama," he growled. "Nothing could ever keep you away for long. I just never thought that you'd have anything to do with humans let alone wizards"

The demonic phoenix smiled back, then replied with a jib of its own. "Just as I never imagined you'd get 'caught with your pants down' at an all-you-can-eat shinobi smorgasbord"

The fox glowered.

"Not funny!"

"Actually it is" Tensai cooed. "I would have expected that from the others before you, especially Yuukyou-chan and octet because of their egos. But never you Kyouran. But as it is, only Toukai, Tosatsu and Ikameshii-chan have escaped that fate. Though I must say, this situation does suit you…"

"Suits me?" Kyuubi snapped, turning his head and aiming bite from the bird's closest leg. "Why you overgrown pigeon!"

"Now, now - lets play nice"

"And don't be so damn condescending! You're not my father you know!"

"Nor would I want to be - who'd want a furred hatchling anyway?"

Kyuubi growled, louder when he noticed that the damn Yondaime and redheaded girl were laughing at him.

"Shut up!"

This was something that he was never going to live down. When a human knows some of your deepest darkest childhood stories, you were so doomed…

'Where am I?'

He felt like he was dying - as though he was floating in an obsidian mist so thick he could hardly breathe. Where was he? Had they won the battle? Had they finally managed to do what others before them could not? Were Orochimaru and Voldemort dead? Were his friends okay?

"Sasuke…"

A voice in the distance.

Who's was it? All those unanswered questions were like little monsters, revolving in the air around him and taunting him mercilessly because of his own inability to fight back against them. It wasn't fair that he should be left alone like this… and did that mean he was dead.

"Sasuke…"

The voice came to him a second time. Focusing on it, he watched as a small speck of light began to glow in the distance. As it began to grow brighter and bright, the darkness was banished until all he could see was whiteness. Then he voices… soft like the wing beats of butterflies in spring, beginning as whispers began to grow steadily louder.

"Doesn't she look beautiful Sasuke?"

That voice? It sounded so familiar… was that Ginny's voice?

"Why are you asking me that?"

He almost chocked. That voice was his own - much older and still a bit bitchy (though he would never admit that, even in thought), but full of pride. But what kind of pride? He had never with such a tone like that before…

Who was she talking about?

"Because she's your daughter baka!"

DAUGHTER?

"Itai! You didn't have hit me! Yes, I think she looks beautiful. Why wouldn't I think my daughter looks beautiful on her wedding day?"

Wedding? He twisted on spot where he was floating, as though trying to see what was beyond this hazy veil before him that kept him from seeing such unindulged secrets. Was this a vision into the future? If so, did he really wanted to know was whom this future daughter of his was marrying - she wasn't even born yet and he was feeling the part of an overprotective father already.

Whoever it was, it had better not be an idiot…

"Well you weren't very happy when she told us he proposed"

"Why would I be? Her choice in men is atrocious!"

Oh, he was soo screwed - it was an idiot!

"That's exactly what you said when our son got married!"

"…"

… hunh?

"Sasuke…"

"I had my reasons!"

"Sasuke!"

"Yo Sasuke! Rise n' shine, bastard!"

Sasuke groaned and opened an eye, cursing the one that ended his vision. It was Naruto of course, and he used his one open eye to glare at the grinning blonde. He was soon to discover, he was no longer within the dank and creepy chamber, but lain out on one of the semi-comfortable beds in Hogwarts' Hospital Wing.

The dark haired boy sat up, rubbing his eyes before looking around. Seated on the bed next to him was Ginny, who just so currently being smothered to death - locked in the deadly embrace of a rather large redheaded woman, with a balding red haired man standing behind her and trying in vain to save the girl from dead by suffocation.

Her mother and her father…

Oh shit…

As soon as those thoughts registered through his head, the red haired woman looked up and beamed at him, her smile as heartwarming as the ones his own mother used to give him. Seconds later, however, he suddenly found that he and Ginny had switched places in the Weasley matriarch's death grip.

"Molly-san! I think you're killing!" he could vaguely hear Rin protesting from somewhere.

But Ginny's mother refused to let go and even with all his ninja training, he wasn't able to escape the clutches of one highly emotional female. She was sobbing on him, her tears drenching him.

"You save her! You saved her! You saved my baby!" she kept ranting, all the while throttling him harder.

"Mum! You're killing my boyfriend!"

And suddenly after what had seemed like forever, she released him, leaving him gasping for breath. He sent Ginny a thankful glance, though he knew it was only going to cause her more 'harm' in the end. The air was suddenly filled with surpised voices.

"Boyfriend? Since when?"

"Whoa! Go Gin-Gin!"

"So you finally decided to come out and tell mum? You have more balls then a guy, girl!"

"But Ginny dear! You're too young for such a thing!"

It was ended with an abrupt annoyed cough. They turned to find Rin fumming, her hands on her hips and a vein throbbing in her forehead. Dumbledore standing next to her, looking slightly amused before he sent her off to tend to other patient before she made another one.

"Yes, yes, I'm sure the relationships of children these days may be becoming a concern, but that is something best left to discuse later. Now that Sasuke is awake, I'm particularly interested in what happened in the chamber the prior to your return"

The Hospital Wing became very quite and for the first time since waking up Sasuke noticed how many people there were in the infirmary. There was Ginny, her parents and an awakened Fred and George to the right; there Naruto, his father and a very large red fox (duh! Kyuubi!) on the left; across the room was Harry, who was currently being fretted over by Rin; and standing next to his bed was Dumbledore.

He looked at his two friends to see which one wanted to start. When neither Harry nor Naruto looked as though they were going to take up the task themselves, he sighed and began to tell them exactly what had transpired prior to Ginny's disappearance.

Sasuke explained the riddles, the mystery of the diary, the petrifaction of their other three friends and how the three that remained had set out to put the pieces together. That led to the mysterious aliment of Fred and George as well as how they finally come to a minor conclusion. He revealed how from there they directly sought to tell Professor Dumbledore their findings when they overheard about Ginny's abduction. That was how he explained since they knew where to look for her, they didn't want to waste any time and sought out Moaning Myrtle in the Girl's Washroom.

Harry picked up where the other boy left off, continuing the tale of how they used the hidden passage behind the sink to enter the sewers in order to traversed the catacombs in search of the legendary chamber. He continued on with how they reached the door to the chamber and how Harry used his gift of Parseltongue to gain them entry into the chamber. He then explain how they found Ginny unconscious and their meeting and talk with the Basilisk.

That's when Naruto cut in and described the horrifying discovery that their mortal enemies where a pair of reincarnated madmen that had lured them to the chamber from the twisted purpose of playing a sadistic game that would allow the winner to rule the world. It chilled everyone as he recounted his fight in which Harry and Sasuke were possessed until which point that Orochimaru revealed one painful little detail that caused himself to go berserk.

And it was Minato in the end how finished the tale. The blonde man spoke of how he followed the three boys down into the chamber, only arriving once the battle itself was almost complete. As he had agreed with Tensai, now Fawkes once more, he left out the part of the phoenix being a demon but did explain how Naruto had released the Kyuubi into mortal form to help fight Voldemort and Orochimaru, in which had given the three boys the to whip up the ultimate coup de grâce.

"They won't be bothering us anymore now" he replied solemnly, drawing the creepy crystal out of his jacket and handed it to Dumbledore. "As long as this crystal is protected by the hands of good, they will never have a hope of influencing the world again"

The elderly wizard nodded and withdrew his wand, summoning a small box. Placing the crystal within the box and sealing it, he cast an additional shielding spell around it before banishing the box and its continents to place that only he knew. As soon at it was done, the spell that seemed to hang in the air over the room was broken.

To say that the Weasley's - Molly in particular - were horrified was an understatement. Mrs. Weasley was frantic, flailing her arms like a lunatic as she immediately began ranting about how children shouldn't be putting their lives in danger no matter the cause.

"Oh hush mum… you're hurting my head…"

Everyone in the room froze again, all heads snapping in the direction of the far end of the hospital. Laying on his bed, looking at them, was none other then…

"RON!"

Sasuke, Naruto and Harry were out of their beds first, dodging past people in order to reach their awakened friend's side first. The trio's smiles grew wider as, next to Ron, a certain pink haired girl muttered death threats concerning noisy people, although Sakura was still fast asleep. And then there was Hermione - the bushy haired girl too was still asleep, but her hands twitched, as though she was subconsciously reaching for a sword that wasn't there in order to beat them all over the heads.

"Keep… it down," the redhead slurred, blinking in slow-motion thanks to the fact that the un-petrifaction was a slow process.

And now the fact that Ron was awake and well had set Mrs. Weasley off on another sob fest - this time Sasuke was very, very thankful that wasn't the one caught in the crossfire this time.

"So... you beat the beat the bastards?" the redhead asked.

"RONALD! LANGUAGE!"

"Molly-san!" Rin snapped. "Please, this is an infirmary, not a boxing ring! If you can't control yourself, I'll have to force you to leave to ensure your son's survival"

"Survival? What are you talking about?"

The plum haired woman glared. "You may love your children Molly-san, but you do them more harm then care in such situations"

The red haired woman sputtered, only calming slightly as her husband took her by the arm. Within the space of a minute, Mr. Weasley had convinced his wife that their children were fine and after a few hugs and kisses, the pair was gone. And with that, the Hospital Wing was quite once more.

"Well then," Dumbledore smiled lightly, clasping his hands. "I'd best be letting Rin-san finish taking care of you. I dare say that you'll be needed some time to fully recover"

And as he turned to leave, Naruto began to fidget slightly.

Dumbledore paused, turning back to them. "Is there something you wish to ask my child?"

Naruto nodded, attracting stares from his friends from his friends.

"I was wondering sir, if you could help me with out with something?"

"And what might that be?"

"Well," Naruto began. "You remember me telling you about a girl named Kinomi I met during the exams?"

The elderly wizard nodded.

"During that time, she told me that he three older sisters had ran away to the wizarding world - she hasn't seen them since she was five. I made a promise to her that I would find them for her when I came back… so I was kinda wondering if you knew where they were? Their names are Uxinta, Aki and Natsu. And their clan is Kinezumi, by the way"

Everyone heard Rin gasped in recognition while Dumbledore chuckled.

"I might…"

Naruto's eyes widened and suddenly began jumping up and down.

"You do? Tell me, tell me, please!"

Dumbledore turned to Rin. "I think it would be best if you told the boy"

The plum haired woman nodded, tears in her eyes that confused her former sensei and the three boys that were looking at her expectantly.

"Oh, I know them alright" Rin replied in a quite voice. "As a matter of fact, I wouldn't have found my way here if wasn't for them"

Minato gazed at his former student.

"What do you mean?"

Rin smiled softly. "They were my traveling companions"

Her revelation shocked them.

"I remember Uxinta-chan talking about how terrible she felt for leaving her baby sister behind," she continued. "Although Aki-chan and Natsu-chan were a lot younger, they too suffered. I know that they wanted to go back and get her after we all made names for ourselves here, but afraid she would hate them for abandoning her…"

Naruto's eyes widened. "Hate them? Never! Kinomi-chan's still hurt that they left her, but she'd never hate them! She always kept wishing they'd come back for her - especially when thing kept getting rougher" he smiled savagely then. "She happens to a Konoha-nin now along with her boyfriend Akumu - the jinchuuriki from Yuki"

The medic blinked.

"What caused her to abandon Iwa? Shouldn't things have gotten at least a little better?"

Sasuke snorted, crossing his arms. "Her own sensei tried to kill her after the Chuunin Exam finals"

The older woman gasped again, her pretty features hardening.

"Who was it? I'll kill them!"

Naruto smiled.

"Don't worry Rin-neechan - the woman is dead"

Rin growled incoherently for a moment before nodding grimly. "That's good I know. From what I remember, Uxinta-chan is one of the most talented medi-witches works at St. Mungo's. Aki-chan fulfilled one of her dream and is currently the head of the Morbid Magical Discoveries Department at the Ministry of Magic. As for Natsu-chan, she's currently taking her sixth year of magical studies at the Beauxbaton's Academy of Magic in France. I'll send them each letter right away telling them they have a certain little sister still looking for them"

There was silence for a moment, before…

"YATTA! I'VE FOUND THEM! KINOMI-CHAN IS GOING TO BE SO HAPPY!"

Within the next few days, a variety of wonderful things happened.

A day later Ron, Sakura, Hermione and the rest of the petrified students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry were on their way to a full recovery thanks to Rin and her brilliant concoction of shinobi and wizard healing. They also received a letter from Tsunade as well that day, announcing that the Sandaime had recovered from his coma the night before.

Two days later, Kinomi was reunited with her long lost sisters for the first time since she was five years old. Although unknown to everyone but the 'perpetrators' themselves, it seemed as though a telltale love-bug was still on the air, infecting one last couple for a least a little while to come. So as it was, three of the four Kinezumi sisters had no idea that one of their sisters had decided to start what would becoming the burgeoning of a lustful affair…

Three days after that, the defeat of Orochimaru and Voldemort would be revealed to their respective worlds. Although the identities of their conquerors remained secret, people rejoiced as the day that the tyrants fell had been declared an unofficial holiday in both the Wizarding and Shinobi worlds. And after over a thousand years of evil, they were gone. Other tribulations would arise in the years to come, but for now, they were free… in a world without darkness.

And four days after that, it was announced that one Yakushi Kabuto had taken up the roll of Kage for the misbegotten Otogakure. Doing the smartest thing in his position, the young medic turned traitor turned nation leader put an end to all of Orochimaru's fowl experiments and plans - thus keeping the other ninja nations from attacking thanks to fact that their once all-powerful dictator was gone. It would take the Sound many years before the other nations would see the village of misfits as anything other then an unprecedented threat.

Things were going to be good from now on…

…or so it seemed.

Soon enough one very important decision would have to be made. In the month to come, six young heroes would be force to make a choice, one that would affect their lives forever. And when it came… would they have what it took to make the right choice?


	34. Chapter 34

Chapter Thirty Four - The Decision of Eternity

"It was a great year, wasn't it?"

"What about the attacks?"

"But a stop was put to them, nobody died and everyone petrified was cured!"

"Hell yeah it was a good year! You-Know-How was defeated for good!"

"Wasn't he already dead?"

"That's not what my mum told me"

The end of the school year had come faster then any of them could have imagined. The last night that anyone would have to be spending at Hogwarts, the Great Hall was filled with whispers galore during the end of the year feast. The student body was buzzing with excitement - there was good food to eat, summer was only a sleep away and the threat of Voldemort had finally been vanquished.

It was time to relax and enjoy the simple things of life now.

With the murderous final exams over and done with, the strain to achieve was over. For six such individuals, those particular exams had driven them crazy - but none more so then poor Harry and Ron. As it turned out upon waking up, Hermione had insisted that she and the two boys take a crash course of the whole second year in one month so that they could partake in the exams and hopeful pass in order to move on to the Third Year.

During all that time, it didn't seem to cross their minds once that they're ways of life was going to have to change, again. This year had been so exciting - albeit the death and mayhem. They had gone so comfortable with their bond of friendship that didn't even think that it might have to be put on hold.

No, rather they were, like the rest of their schoolmates, enjoying the final feast. Naruto had proposed that they pull one last going away prank. Although Hermione and Sakura were against the idea, the pair was out voted six to two - even though they would have won with just three vote, Fred and George and Ginny were all for the prank as well.

It began with an illusionary disco ball descending from the illusionary sky about the Great Hall before all the adults present at the feast burst into song, beating out the 'Macarena' at the tops of their lungs while they did the dance moves that went along with it. The whole Slytherin table's robes transforming into flowers, seashells and hoola skirts as they began an outrageous conga line that began to circle the hall and that would then progress to the Hufflepuffs, who would got to do the disco; the Ravenclaws, who would be doing the 'Chicken Dance'; and finally the Gryffindors singing 'It's the End of the World'.

When it was done, the hall was filled with laughter, as everyone was laughing - or at least on the part of those who had a sense of humor.

And when the feast finally ended and the students returned to their dorms one last time for before they would be free for two glorious months of summer, it came.

The six friends hadn't left the hall when the others had, instead they remained behind with the teachers, smiling and laughing - or at least in Sasuke cause smirking and nodding. Now they had the 'privacy' talk about whatever they wanted without having to worry about whatever anyone else would say. Hermione was very vocal on how proud she was of them all - how all six of them had survived all the hardships they had faced during the past year and how they all passed the second year (and only gloated at least fifty times about how she and Sakura had tied for Top Student of the Year).

It was only as Naruto started in on the fact that they were pair of eggheads that they noticed Dumbledore approaching them, a sad smile on his face. That was perfect indication that something was wrong. But after everything they had done, what could be wrong now? They had battled the odds numerous times and defeated two of the world's greatest villains ever… so more could there be?

The elderly wizard coughed lightly as he reached their table, that same smile still on his winkled face.

"Hello children. Congratulations on passing your exams and executing such a wonderful prank"

They nodded grimly.

"Why do I have the feeling that you are here for something other then passing out praises Headmaster?" Hermione asked, as she was the only one of them with the courage to ask.

"Very intuitive Ms. Granger" he replied. "Yes, I am here with a different purpose entirely"

Harry and Naruto looked at each a moment. "Something bad hasn't happened again has it?"

"Not at all, at least not in the way you'd think"

"It has something to do with us, doesn't it?"

Sasuke looked at though he had a rain cloud hanging over his head. Seeing the look, the elderly wizard sighed softly and nodded, sitting down at the table with them and clasping his hands before him.

"You six have a decision to make," he began, the perpetual twinkle in his eyes slightly dimmed. "It will be one that may decide what paths your lives will take"

His solemn words sent chills to run down their spins.

"Now I know that you all, no matter the hardships that you've face together, enjoyed this year immensely. It allowed you created friendships with one another that wouldn't have been possible otherwise. Without what the six of you have, Voldemort and Orochimaru wouldn't have been defeated nor would we have welcomed someone like Minato back into the world of the living. Although this has been good healing for all of you, I am regretful to say that you will no be able to indulge it much longer"

Naruto shot up from his seat, his eyes widening dramatically.

"Nani!"

They all looked at Dumbledore in shock, not comprehending what he was saying.

"The threat that we faced is gone thanks to you all" the elderly wizard continued. "Had it not been for you're teamwork, the world surly would have succumb to darkness. But it is over now. You all have your respective lives that you must return to. Although you have spent these last half a year together bridging the gap between the shinobi and wizarding people, the cultures and distances in which you live are very great. Each of you has a family to return - no matter how small they may be. The decision you must make is if you really want to return to them"

His words left them all speechless.

No… this just couldn't be happening…

"Isn't there any other way Dumbledore-sama" Sakura pleaded, tear threatening to form in her bright green eyes.

Her hopes were crushed when he shook his head.

"No, unfortunately there is not. Whichever decision you make in the end, you will have a home to stay in either world. On that matter, much of the knowledge you have accumulated over this past year must be sealed. Each of you secrets of either race that would put you in a position of danger, such as your knew gained talents with magic or chakra. If you agree, those such things will be sealed away until the last of you comes of age in four years time"

Both Ron and Sasuke began to grit their teeth, barely holding their own emotions back.

"Now depending on whichever choice you make, once five years have past and you are all official adults, then you can make your own choices as to where your loyalties lie. But right now, you have to choose whither become a wizard/witch or a shinobi/kunoichi. Once you are adults, it is possible that you may act as liaisons between both nations in hopes of slowly mending the damage that was long ago wrought"

Dumbledore stood from the table then, watching sadly as Naruto slumped back into his seat and Harry looked forlornly down at his hands. There was nothing else he could do.

"I leave the decision to you. I will be waiting for your answer an hour before the students depart the school for home tomorrow morning. Good night"

Half an hour later, the six friends plus three, found themselves gathered around the fireplace in the Gryffindor commons room. Ginny was looking decidedly pale after they had announced what Dumbledore had told them after they had left the hall. Fred and George were too to a degree, seeing as they would undoubtedly be loosing a pair of their best pranking friends for the rest of their duration at Hogwarts.

"So… what your decision?" George asked quietly gazing at the others around him.

Naruto raised his hand first, reaching into his robes as he did so and withdrew his wand and the Marauder's Map. "I won't be needing this anymore" the blonde replied miserably. "I have to return to Konoha. If I don't, then I would loose out getting to become Hokage, spending time with Hinata-chan and having an actual family now that otou-san's alive. I couldn't leave all that behind… so I'm going back"

Hermione nodded, placing her sword Amaiko and her hitai-ate on the floor next to Naruto's wand and the Marauder's Map.

"Same with me. Sure I have friends in Konoha and I'll miss Kiba, but I couldn't leave my parents. Even if there even were a slim possibility that they could get a dentist's job there, they wouldn't want me being friends with ninja let alone be one myself. I'm staying"

Harry was next. "Well… I have Sirius now so that means I don't have to go back to the Dursleys. If hadn't been here, I would have jumped at the chance of going back even if it did mean sacrificing magic. But I couldn't do that him. Sirius spent twelve years in Azkaban because he was blamed for a deed he didn't do and I know he wants to make it up to me for not being able to be there when I needed him most. And even though it means not being able to Sora again for a long time, I'm staying"

He then placed his hitai-ate next to slowly growing pile. Messaging her temples, Sakura added her wand right after Harry had drawn his hand back.

"Like Hermione, I couldn't leave my kaa-chan or tou-chan. I am there only child, after all. It was bad enough for them when I decided I wanted to be a ninja - it would break their hearts if I left them behind to be a witch. I will miss what I have come to love here though, so I guess that means I'm going back as well"

"I - I'll be staying" Ron replied, adding his hitai-ate to the pile, unable to bring himself to look at the pink haired girl sitting next him. "Although our family is big enough that one of us wouldn't really be missed, you all know mum would have a conniption fit if I decided to go. I wouldn't dare risk my health to Howlers and mail-order hexes, even if it did mean I'd get to have the daily pleasure of watching 'good 'ol' Malfoy be crushed under the Hyuuga thumb"

As soon as he was finished, there was silence, save for their breathing and the sound the crackling fire. Eight eyes slowly became trained upon one person, a particular onyx eyed boy whose hair looked like the rear end of a chicken.

Sasuke fidgeted under their silent gazes.

"Do you mind?"

"So Sasuke, what did you decide?"

There were a few more moments of silence.

"I don't know"

His quite reply was enough to cause his eight friends to gap at him in shock. Was Uchiha Sasuke - the last loyal Uchiha to Konoha - really that uncertain as to whither he wanted to stay or go? And then suddenly he stood, backing away from the little group.

"I have till tomorrow to decide what I want. You'll know then"

He turned and left them, mouths still hanging open. Seconds later, Ginny followed.

Away from the others, she blindsided him before he could get into his dorm.

"Is this about me?" she asked, a slight frown on her face.

He looked away. "Partly"

"Why?"

"Because you are first person I have been able to talk to about things since the massacre of my clan" he replayed briskly. "There might be Obito there now, but I don't really know him. You don't really learn what a person is all about in only two months"

"Go back"

His eyes widened and turned back to her.

"Nani?"

Ginny smiled. "Go back to Konoha. I know I won't have to worry about any girl stealing you away from me thanks to your abhorrence to all but me and you don't have to worry about me either. Sure, it'll be six years before it will make a difference for me, but once I've graduated, mum couldn't hope to keep me here if she tried. Besides, we're still young right?"

And for once a true smile graced in face.

"Arigatou Ginny-chan…" he whispered, then passed her as entered the dorm. "Oyasuminasai"

She smiled as well. "Your welcome Sasuke. Good night"

The next morning came faster then any of them would have liked. Breakfast was a somber affair, particularly for friends that had only just found out moments before. Lavender and Parvati were crying rivers as Sakura tried to explain to them she wouldn't be coming back next year and the reaction from Neville when Naruto told him the same thing was very similar, just minus the whole crying part. But really, that was nothing at all compared to how Sasuke's fan club reacted to the news - you'd have thought Moaning Myrtle flooded the Girl's Washroom again from the amount of water in the Great Hall.

Then it wasn't long before the students were ushered out of the school into the carriages that would take them down to platform to wait for the Hogwarts Express. Since they taking the Floo system home, Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura didn't have to go with them, but the trio had insisted on seeing their friends off.

So to the amazement of all those watching and one grouchy fox, the trio rode past on the back on Kyuubi. Since the fox decided he was giving off free show to all these wizards (who were still shocked even after a month at seeing a fox so big), Kyuubi did stunts like running across the water of the lake. Soon enough they were there and the wait was on.

"So this is it…"

"I guess so"

"Ah, this just sucks!"

So they talked. It was really all they could, after all.

Soon enough there was a telltale hooting in the distance. Naruto turned, facing the wind, his hair whipping in his face.

"Its here"

He leaned out from where he was standing between Kyuubi's front paws, pushing the large fox's snout off his head as moved to join the. As the Hogwarts Express approached in the distance, hugs and goodbyes were exchanged among all their friends.

"You guys take care of yourselves," Harry said looking over his shoulder as he hefted in truck. "I'd hate to find out one of you was MIA before we see each other again"

He entered the train and placed it in the closest empty compartment before returning.

"The same to you guys." Sakura replied with a chuckle. "I'd hate to find out that Snape-sensei used one of you as potions ingredients"

Hermione and Ron shared a look before bursting out laughing, then pointing at Harry.

"That would be Harry's fate. That greasy bastard have well established the fact that he hates any and all Potters"

There was laughter all around them and even Sasuke couldn't help but smile.

"Five years then?" he stated, putting out a hand.

Harry nodded, adding his hand. "Five years"

"Five years" Ron smiled.

Sakura placed her hand in the circle as well.

"Five years"

"Five years" Hermione echoed.

"Yes, five years" Naruto laughed. "And lets nothing stop that!"

"Six years"

They turned to Ginny, who had placed her hand in the circle as well.

"Make it three years for us!"

Fred and George grinned like lunatics as they also placed their hands in the growing circle.

"You know" Fred chuckled, looking at the three shinobi as he ushered his siblings and two friends onto the train. "I'd like to see what your village looks likes. If things work out good, Gred and I could move there and we'd use our prank products to become the best trap and sabotage suppliers in history!"

Sasuke snorted.

"Although they'd like it, I'd hate to see what Naruto would do to them with all that ammunition"

At that, Naruto grinned evilly. "Oh, you'll get to see sooner then you expect teme! The twins were oh soo kind as to give me 'care package' - I get to promote their products in advance!"

"Heaven forbid!"

Ron poked his head out group's compartment window.

"Konoha is doomed!"

"Yes, Konoha is doomed"

They laughed, the train giving a final whistle. Leaning out the windows, the four Weasleys, Harry and Hermione waved as the train began move, taking them away from the three shinobi and the one fox.

"Goodbye guy!"

"We'll miss you!"

"Don't forget to write!"

The trio smiled, waving back.

"Sayonara minna! See you in five!"

And as the train slowly began smaller and smaller in the distance, the small group turned and began their track back to the castle, which would take them home.

A quest had come to an end, at least for them moment anyway. When the time came again and they were once again reunited, perhaps there would be more grand adventures in which to take part. At the moment, growing up would be the next great adventure… if it could be conquered or if they remind children at heart at heart forever, only the future knew.

Naruto snickered quitely, and leaned up to whisper into Kyuubi's ear.

The fox snorted with laughter, nodding as the blonde hopped up onto his back. Turning to Sasuke and Sakura, an evil little grin crossed the blonde's face as he blew them pair a raspberry.

"Last one back to Hogwarts gets to sell all the incriminating pictures of Sasuke-teme on the black market!" he shouted over his shoulder as the fox launched itself into a full out sprint, laughing all the way.

And with that, the serene backdrop was shattered by one ear piercing scream...

"NARUTO!"


End file.
